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Release Date: February 2nd, 2010 Movie Release Year: 2003

Mystic River

Overview -

Mystic River (2003) tells the story of three men whose dark, interwoven history forces them to come to terms with a brutal murder on the mean streets of Boston.

OVERALL:
Rating Breakdown
STORY
VIDEO
AUDIO
SPECIAL FEATURES
Tech Specs & Release Details
Technical Specs:
BD-50 Dual-Layer Disc
Video Resolution/Codec:
1080p/VC-1
Length:
138
Aspect Ratio(s):
2.40:1
Audio Formats:
Hungarian Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Subtitles/Captions:
Italian SDH
Special Features:
Trailers
Release Date:
February 2nd, 2010

Storyline: Our Reviewer's Take

Ranking:

Grief is a particularly difficult emotion to dramatize on film without lapsing into maudlin sentimentality. At their worst, Hollywood dramas about death (especially the death of a child) come across as glorified Lifetime Channel movies-of-the-week. They frequently indulge in sentimental button-pushing, in which the characters mope around and wail with tears to declare how sad they are, as if that were enough to elicit emotional resonance. Don't get me wrong, in real life, I'm sure that the loss of a child would be an unbearably traumatic experience for any parent to ever go through. But movies are not real life. The needs of drama require something relevant or meaningful to evolve from the subject matter. Most Hollywood weepies never achieve that goal.

On the other end of the spectrum are movies like 'Mystic River' that focus on the anguish and rage of the experience. But even here a film runs the risk of misstepping into either melodramatic histrionics or banal revenge fantasy. It takes a storyteller with a clear vision and a sure hand to manage the delicate balancing act that such material demands.

In his career as a director, especially in these later years, Clint Eastwood has built a reputation for his intelligent, contemplative adult dramas. No doubt, he's had his share of well-intentioned misfires among them. No filmmaker as prolific as Eastwood can bat a home run on every outing. Nevertheless, it's nice that someone in Hollywood is still out there making movies for grown-ups. His better efforts are characterized by the director's even-handed tone and general lack of schmaltzy sentimentality, even though so many of them are weighted by the themes of redemption, grief, and loss.

'Mystic River' is part mystery thriller and part revenge tale. Yet neither of those are its driving focus. Mostly, it's a story about guilt – real and imagined, the kind we take upon ourselves and the kind we force onto others. Three young boys from a working class Boston neighborhood are bonded, and divided, by a traumatic event. For playing in the streets and being only vaguely mischievous, a police officer chastises them, sends two of them home, and drives the third away in his car. Except, he's not a police officer. He's a pedophile. The boy escapes after four terrible days. He's never the same again. None of them are.

Years later, the three as adults have drifted apart but still circle around each other's lives in the old neighborhood. Jimmy (Sean Penn) owns a corner market, and is seemingly reformed from a previous life of crime. Or at least partially reformed. Sean (Kevin Bacon) is a state police officer. Dave (Tim Robbins), the original victim, is still a shambles of a man. Although he has a wife and son, he clearly never recovered and remains perpetually haunted by that decision to get into the car. It could have been any one of the three boys on that day, and they all know it.

As if that weren't enough tragedy for one lifetime, Jimmy's teenage daughter (Emmy Rossum) is murdered. Brutally. Sean works the case, but Jimmy vows to find the killer and take his revenge first. Meanwhile, on the night of the girl's disappearance, Dave came home covered in blood. He claims that he'd been attacked by a mugger, but doesn't want to go to the police because he fears he killed the man when fighting back. His wife (Marcia Gay Harden) grows suspicious when she finds no record of this in the news over the next several days. She can't trust her husband. Even he admits that he can't trust his own mind anymore.

If the solution to this mystery seems clear-cut, it's anything but. 'Mystic River' is a complex, emotionally wrenching tragedy. Based on a novel by Dennis Lehane and adapted by Brian Helgeland ('L.A. Confidential'), the film features multi-faceted characters and a densely-layered, literary narrative. Far from a typical sob story or revenge thriller, this is a film that tries to break through the trite clichés about loss, and instead examine our human tendency to misplace anger and guilt on those who may not deserve it.

While Eastwood doesn't act in this one himself, the rest of the cast is superb. Both Sean Penn and Tim Robbins won Oscars for their roles. However you may feel about Robbins as a loudmouth political activist in his spare time, his deeply internalized performance here as a shattered man is incredibly affecting. I'm a little less sold on Penn, who veers a bit over-the-top once too often. He's fine, even excellent, in much of the movie, but his emoting in some key scenes is obvious Oscar baiting. He's done better work in other pictures. This didn't bother me as much as some of the film's harsher critics, and I don't believe that it ever derails the movie, but I also wasn't as impressed by it as the Academy obviously was. Even so, the movie has a huge cast of A-list talent, almost all working at the top of their games.

Eastwood deftly navigates the story with a restrained and spare style that draws out the emotional power of the material. He also has a keen eye for authentic local color. I'm not sure that I'd call 'Mystic River' the best film he's directed, but it easily ranks among them.

The Blu-ray: Vital Disc Stats

'Mystic River' comes to Blu-ray courtesy of Warner Home Video. In a big change for the studio, the disc defaults to a main menu after loading, rather than automatically starting the movie playback. There are also no forced trailers or promos before that menu.

Video Review

Ranking:

The Blu-ray's 1080p/VC-1 transfer is extremely frustrating. At its best, it looks outstanding. This is especially true of outdoor scenes. The 2.40:1 picture is very sharp, with excellent resolution of fine details and textures. The picture doesn't have much grain, but it doesn't seem to be DNR'ed either. I expect that the movie was just shot on fine-grained film stock. When grain is visible, it's rendered tightly without any smearing or unnatural frozen patterns. Colors are vibrant yet natural.

The image has rich contrasts. If anything, it may be just a bit too contrasty. The opening credits bloom slightly, and here or there some blacks look a little crushed or some whites look a little hot. Generally, that's not a problem. I could see this being a stylistic decision, and there's nothing objectionable about the way it looks. I wouldn't classify this as a complaint; it's just something I noticed.

So what's the problem, then? Edge ringing. It's not visible consistently, but it's there in enough of the movie to be a distraction. Primarily, it appears during indoor scenes. It jumped out at me first in the police station and morgue. In some scenes, the edge halos around characters are thick and strong and awful. The disc doesn't exactly have the traditional look of being artificially sharpened, though. It doesn't suffer from the coarse textures, grittiness, or obscured detail that are the usual side effects of deliberate Edge Enhancement. If the contrast were artificially boosted, however, that might create an adverse reaction like this. Whatever the cause, it's there and it's annoying.

I'm still rating the video of this disc with a high 4 stars out of 5. Enough of the movie looks terrific that it deserves that score. However, I'd feel a lot better about it if not for this issue.

Audio Review

Ranking:

The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack may not have any showy auditory fireworks, but is represented with excellent fidelity nonetheless. The movie's sound mix is very restrained. Eastwood often dials back during big climactic moments that another director would crank up to 11. His own score is gentle and subdued.

Dialogue is always crisp and clear. Directional and ambient effects create an effective sense of surround envelopment. While there aren't any big explosions or slamming bass moments, a subtle but discernable presence of low-end activity lends an ominous tone to many important scenes.

I doubt anyone will pull 'Mystic River' off the shelf as an audio demo for new surround sound speakers. It's just not that type of movie. Regardless, the soundtrack is a critical component of the film's effectiveness, and the Blu-ray's lossless audio delivers it in a presentation that's hard to fault.

Special Features

Ranking:

Back in 2004, 'Mystic River' was released on DVD in two options: a featureless single-disc version or a 3-disc Deluxe Edition. The Blu-ray carries over all of the video supplements from the 3-disc set.

  • Audio Commentary – Tim Robbins and Kevin Bacon talk a bit about the movie. (Apparently, Sean Penn couldn't be bothered.) The conversation is, unfortunately, a little dry and dull. Right from the start, it's pretty obvious that the actors are only there out of some studio contractual requirement. They haven't come prepared with anything in particular to talk about, and often struggle to find topics to discuss. It's not a terrible commentary by any means. In fact, they relay some interesting information about how they crafted their characters and about Eastwood's directing style. But it's not the most exciting discussion either.
  • Mystic River: Beneath the Surface (SD, 23 min.) – This very good making-of featurette offers interviews with author Dennis Lehane (who didn't initially want to sell the movie rights to his book, until Clint Eastwood called), Eastwood, screenwriter Brian Helgeland, and many of the cast. As per the title, this piece does dig a little beneath the surface further than the EPK promotional fluff found on most movies these days.
  • Mystic River: From Page to Screen (SD, 12 min.) – This Bravo TV special is more straightforward EPK material. In fact, it recycles a good number of sound bytes from the first featurette.
  • The Charlie Rose Show Interviews (SD, 52 min.) – The divisive talk show host serves up separate interviews with Clint Eastwood, Tim Robbins, and Kevin Bacon. There's a lot of good material in there, but (as always) Rose's combative style may turn off some viewers.
  • Theatrical Trailers (SD, 4 min.) – One teaser and one full trailer. The teaser is narrated by Eastwood.

HD Bonus Content: Any Exclusive Goodies in There?

There are no Blu-ray exclusives.

The Cutting Room Floor: What Didn't Make the Blu-ray?

The third disc in that 3-disc Deluxe Edition DVD released in 2004 was a soundtrack CD. The Blu-ray version doesn't include that.

'Mystic River' is a strong catalog title in every respect. An excellent movie is paired up with very good video and audio quality, plus a decent selection of bonus features. Recommended.