Review

Lyrical, haunting and steadfast, Mystic River is an epic tragedy of Shakespearean proportions, the kind of which American cinema hasn't seen since Tennessee Williams or Arthur Miller. It's a galvanizing triumph of storytelling and craftsmanship -- drama and filmmaking of the highest order. Based on the novel by Dennis Lahane, the film starts ostensibly as a police mystery. Returning to the working-class Boston neighborhood of his youth to investigate a murder, detective Sean Devine (Bacon) unlocks the ghosts of his past when the deceased turns out to be the daughter of a childhood friend, Jimmy Markum (Penn). Jimmy and Sean share in common the memory of the kidnapping and molestation of their pal Dave (Robbins) -- indeed, it could have been either one of them those 30 years ago. As the grief-stricken father looks for answers, and possibly revenge, Sean begins the painstaking hunt for a killer, the clues of which point to Dave. Director Eastwood has done a stunning job in articulating the myriad of emotions and conflicts besetting these tragic figures, thanks to remarkably composed pacing, an unflinching honesty to character, and an exhilarating ensemble. Penn has simply never been better, imparting the unimaginable sorrow of losing one's child with an intensity that is only rivaled by his resolve for vengeance. Robbins is a revelation as the sadly tortured Dave, a father himself haunted by a terrible past and left for emotional dead. Special mention goes to Harden as Dave's suspicious wife, torn between loyalty and doubt. Mystic River is a tough, brutal work, exacting and spare, but one of beauty and scope, power and restraint. Both Penn and Robbins won much-deserved Academy Awards.

 -- David Bleiler