Mystic River

"We bury our sins, we wash them clean."

2003 2h 18m EN

🙌

7.7

BANGER

🍅

89%

FRESH

💯

METACRITIC

⭐

7.9

IMDB

★7.7TMDB · 7,749🍅89%Rotten Tomatoes●84Metacritic★7.9IMDB · 515,917

ThrillerDramaMysteryCrime

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

The lives of three men who were childhood friends are shattered when one of them suffers a family tragedy.

“We bury our sins, we wash them clean.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Sean Penn
Jimmy Markum
Tim Robbins
Dave Boyle
Kevin Bacon
Sean Devine
Laurence Fishburne
Whitey Powers
Marcia Gay Harden
Celeste Boyle
Laura Linney
Annabeth Markum
Kevin Chapman
Val Savage
Tom Guiry
Brendan Harris

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Clint Eastwood
Writers: Brian Helgeland
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 6.3× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 23 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Clint Eastwood, shot by Tom Stern. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Clint Eastwood. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Joel Cox shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Sean Penn and Tim Robbins and Kevin Bacon carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "We bury our sins, we wash them clean.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0327056 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Clint Eastwood directs. Tom Stern behind the camera. Clint Eastwood scores. Joel Cox cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Made its money back 6.3× over at the box office.
2Released 23 years ago.
3Directed by Clint Eastwood, shot by Tom Stern. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Clint Eastwood. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Joel Cox shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Sean Penn and Tim Robbins and Kevin Bacon carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "We bury our sins, we wash them clean.".
8IMDB entry: tt0327056 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 21 themes, including "child abuse", "sexual abuse", "workers' quarter", "based on novel or book".
10Released under 11 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Tom Stern
Original score: Clint Eastwood
Editing: Joel Cox
Production design: Henry Bumstead
Costume design: Deborah Hopper
Makeup / hair: Jerry DeCarlo
Sound: Christopher Boyes
Stunt coordinator: Buddy Van Horn
Runtime: 138 min · 2h 18m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $25,000,000
Box office: $156,800,000
Return: 627% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Mystic River (2003)
Rotten Tomatoes: 89% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 84/100
IMDB rating: 7.9/10 · 515,917 votes
MPAA: R

Awards

Won 2 Oscars. 57 wins & 144 nominations total

César Award for Best Foreign Film
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
International Cinephile Society Award for Best Ensemble
National Board of Review: Top Ten Films
National Board of Review Award for Best Film
Academy Award for Best Actor

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Also by

Clint Eastwood

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Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Wuchak2018-12-17
★ 9/10
Evils of the past and the problems with vigilante justice Released in 2003 and directed by Clint Eastwood, “Mystic River” tells the story of three men from a working class neighborhood in Boston. While playing in the street as kids, one of them is abducted and sexually abused for days. As adults they’ve drifted apart. Jimmy (Sean Penn) is a reformed con who runs a successful market when his daughter is suddenly murdered (Emmy Rossum). Sean (Kevin Bacon) investigates the murder with his partner, Whitey (Laurence Fishburne), with evidence eventually pointing toward Dave (Timothy Bottoms), the one who was abducted. Marcia Gay Harden plays Dave’s anxious spouse while Laura Linney plays Jimmy’s loyal wife. This is similar in tone & theme to the melancholy “Sleepers” (1996), but less episodic and more dramatically gripping. The movie has the confidence to take its time and flesh-out the characters. It’s a psychological crime drama that works as both a whodunit and a tragedy. The intrinsic problems of vigilante justice are cogently illustrated. Some people have misinterpreted the movie because they missed some things. For instance, they criticize the curious Lady Macbeth-like monologue of Annabeth (Linney) at the end. But watch the movie again, pay close attention, and the answers are there. I’d say more, but I don’t want to give anything away (you’re welcome to write me if you’d like some insights). “Mystic River” is not something that can be casually watched; it’s a deep drama with three-dimensional characters, potently exploring several intriguing issues: How abuses of the past affect the present; the danger of hiding recesses of your psyche; the folly of not getting spiritual help for deep-rooted psychological concerns; disloyalty/loyalty; doing the wrong thing for the right reasons; jumping to wrong conclusions based on dubious info; houses divided cannot stand; the importance of encouraging one’s spouse for the sake of familial health & survival; “king of the castle”; etc. The film runs 2 hours, 18 minutes and was shot in Boston. GRADE: A
The Movie Diorama2020-01-16
★ 8/10
Mystic River continuously outflows its poignant crime investigation through a meticulously gritty screenplay. The past haunts us. Experiences and encounters, grossly susceptible and an impressionably young age, returning viciously with psychological detriments. A naive boy that just didn’t know any better. Abducted. An unresolved mystery that manifested itself into an intricately societal Massachusetts neighbourhood, where one disturbance can erupt into a multitude of hatred from the cold concrete beneath them. A father’s daughter mercilessly murdered in the streets that he, and his two ex-friends, played hockey in. Anguish. Guilt. Vengeance. His childhood pals, one assigned the task of searching for the killer and the other forced into battling his own justifications for not murdering her, sending their condolences to the grieving father. Yet, Mystic River refuses to tell a simple crime drama. Eastwood, with his insatiably concise attention to the screenplay, elevated the mystery by providing an illustration of emotive complexity. One that many inflict upon themselves. Torment. These three individuals, with one visibly undergoing traumatic bewilderment, exhume indications of self-torment. Mystic River does not flow water. The elaborate dialogue is too viscous for the aqueous substance. Rather, it flows blood. Bacon’s detective role combating his duties as a justice seeker, that with the liabilities of adolescent friendship. Determining the fate of neighbours within his hands. Robbins’ psychologically damaged husband role, fabricating stories to protect his moral high ground. And Penn’s award-winning performance as the father, embroiled in a plethora of intense emotions that express the full journey of bereavement. As separate souls, these three give life to Helgeland’s script that, whilst frequently becomes overwrought with unnecessary conversations that repeat earlier information, undeniably captivates with its foundational strength in investigation building. Eastwood takes a differing approach. Instead of the classic yet saturated “who dunnit!?” narrative structure, he settled for displaying the mechanisms of detective fieldwork. Composing a timeline but questioning witnesses and suspects. Revisiting evidence to accurately imagine the murder as it happened. See, Mystic River works not for its “twists” and “turns” so to speak, but for its richly developed characters and constant focus on the investigation itself. The sensational performances, acute direction and gritty aesthetics provide the script with leverage. It exposes the rawness of the situation beautifully. Not to mention the exquisite pacing that made two and half hours flow by quicker than a hockey stick crashing down a raging waterfall. The conclusion should’ve been tighter, with Eastwood diminishing much of the staying power by unnecessarily extending its resolution. By simply ending on Jimmy and Sean coming to terms with what’s just happened, it enables the shock of its ending to simmer much more violently than Linney exclaiming how everyone else is weak compared to her and her husband. So whilst not perfect, Eastwood adapts Lehane’s novel with a sense of emotional urgency. Once the grit settles in, it never lets up, taking you on a roaring ride down a river of torment.
r96sk2022-02-08
★ 9/10
Excellent! I'm not fully sold on the ending, though it isn't anything less than good either way, but the rest of <em>'Mystic River'</em> is quality. The cast are superb, whether that be the main trio of Sean Penn, Tim Robbins and Kevin Bacon or the supporting Laurence Fishburne and Marcia Gay Harden. Bacon and Fishburne make for a terrific buddy cop duo, miles better than director Clint Eastwood's attempt with Charlie Sheen in the former's 1990 release <em>'<a href="https://letterboxd.com/film/the-rookie/" rel="nofollow">The Rookie</a>'</em>. The conclusion does I guess go in line with what precedes it, particularly with Robbins' character, but I'm not fully convinced by who is eventually unveiled as you know what. That's not to say it's a bad end, as noted at the top, as it's still entertaining no matter what.