Review of Mystic River. Looking for a great feel-good film? Good. Now go look somewhere else.

Mystic River, directed by Clint Eastwood, is a sad, but thought provoking film. It was about friendship, and going through tough times. Most of the time while I was watching it i was thinking how this could have been a real story because of the things that I hear on the news. Sean Penn plays a rough and tough guy who's daughter is brutally murdered and his two friends, Tim Robbins and Kevin Bacon, who try to cope with the murder and find the killer. Penn, Robbins, and Bacon all do a great job here, but Tim Robbins stood pout for me because of the way he portrayed such a disturbed character. Eastwood also does well in setting the right mood for each scene, shot entirely on location in Boston, was able to put everything together nicely with the lighting, effects, and lack of music. The lack of music especially hit a mark for me because most of the time a director would put in dramatic music or a sad score for parts where they needed to strike an emotion in the viewer. I like that Eastwood didn't put in a lot of music because it made the movie seem even more real and as if the viewer was experiencing the events themselves.
The Verdict:
With great direction, great jobs done by the leading roles, and even a little bit of an emotional attachment that came along with it, Mystic River was a good, feel-sad film that's worth seeing if you want to make someone rethink their lives or just play a really mean practical joke. I give it four oddly picked names for a person out of five, 4/5.