Mystic River

[BigBoss]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/93/Mystic_River_poster.jpg

Such a good movie. Sean Penn with a masterful performance.

9.5/10

Check it out ISH :pimp:

[Lamar Doom]

It was nominated for Academy Awards for best picture, best director, best actor, best adapted screenplay, best supporting actress, and best supporting actor... never heard of it.

[JerrySeinfeld]

It was nominated for Academy Awards for best picture, best director, best actor, best adapted screenplay, best supporting actress, and best supporting actor... never heard of it.

It doesn't look very good... at all.

[JohnnySic]

it starst off strong with Sean Penn as the working stiff but goes downhill once its revealed that he's actually Tony Soprano.

[FatComputerNerd]

It's a great movie

[Thorpesaurous]

It kicked off a little run where it seemed like every third movie took place in Boston. It's really superbly directed. And I think because it sort of feels like Gone Baby Gone because of the setting, I've since always felt like there's a connection between the directing styles of Clint Eastwood (who did this), and Ben Affleck (who did GBG). Both tend toward the moody setting, and they usually chew through narrative that feels pretty straightforward right until they supply the twist. But I'm not sure how true that really is.

MR was also adapted from a novel by author Dennis Lehane. Lehane is a master of the modern noir crime novel. He's had material turned into movies for this, Shutter Island, Gone Baby Gone, and has written for The Wire, and Boardwalk Empire. And just recently a short story of his was turned into The Drop that's out right now. I think he's got something in pre-production as well. And I actually remember reading once that he had work purchased before even writing it, something like Affleck buying the rights to his next yet unwritten novel, that's how fond of his work filmmakers seem to be.

I have a predisposition to not like Marcia Gay Hardin, or Tim Robbins, so there were parts of this movie that didn't sit well with me more because of that. But overall I loved it. I did really dislike the Hardin character. Robbins was really good though. The turn of Sean Penn from blue collar dude to baddest man ever was a little over the top in retrospect, but as it happened I had no problems with it. The kid who played Brendan Harris, the kid from The Sandlot, was great, in a role that was pivotal to the movie, and easily could of ruined the whole thing had they not gotten a kid who could handle the material. I thought that kid was gonna be a star and am surprised he hasn't done more. Kevin Bacon is great as a mechanism to work the story from two sides. And being able to round out a cast with Laura Linney and Lawrence Fishburn is a pretty good indication of just how well acted this thing was.

[ZeN]

It kicked off a little run where it seemed like every third movie took place in Boston. It's really superbly directed. And I think because it sort of feels like Gone Baby Gone because of the setting, I've since always felt like there's a connection between the directing styles of Clint Eastwood (who did this), and Ben Affleck (who did GBG). Both tend toward the moody setting, and they usually chew through narrative that feels pretty straightforward right until they supply the twist. But I'm not sure how true that really is.

MR was also adapted from a novel by author Dennis Lehane. Lehane is a master of the modern noir crime novel. He's had material turned into movies for this, Shutter Island, Gone Baby Gone, and has written for The Wire, and Boardwalk Empire. And just recently a short story of his was turned into The Drop that's out right now. I think he's got something in pre-production as well. And I actually remember reading once that he had work purchased before even writing it, something like Affleck buying the rights to his next yet unwritten novel, that's how fond of his work filmmakers seem to be.

I have a predisposition to not like Marcia Gay Hardin, or Tim Robbins, so there were parts of this movie that didn't sit well with me more because of that. But overall I loved it. I did really dislike the Hardin character. Robbins was really good though. The turn of Sean Penn from blue collar dude to baddest man ever was a little over the top in retrospect, but as it happened I had no problems with it. The kid who played Brendan Harris, the kid from The Sandlot, was great, in a role that was pivotal to the movie, and easily could of ruined the whole thing had they not gotten a kid who could handle the material. I thought that kid was gonna be a star and am surprised he hasn't done more. Kevin Bacon is great as a mechanism to work the story from two sides. And being able to round out a cast with Laura Linney and Lawrence Fishburn is a pretty good indication of just how well acted this thing was.
It did help with Gone Baby Gone that it was written by Dennis Lehane the writer of Mystic River.

[JohnnySic]

Boston movies are largely make-believe. Neighborhoods like Southie and Charlestown dont look like they do in these movies. They are ritzy, gentrified, and full of yuppies. Just so you know.

[Thorpesaurous]

Boston movies are largely make-believe. Neighborhoods like Southie and Charlestown dont look like they do in these movies. They are ritzy, gentrified, and full of yuppies. Just so you know.


Yeah, they're really depicting those neighborhoods from a different era. Pretty much the same in Brooklyn.

[Thorpesaurous]

It did help with Gone Baby Gone that it was written by Dennis Lehane the writer of Mystic River.


I finished about a month ago Galveston, the Novel by Nic Pizzallatto, the guy who wrote True Detective. I don't read a ton of fiction, but I really liked it, and I got on this notion that I was gonna read a some more noir. I knew Lehane was a great author, and started looking into his library, but I sort of backed off because it seemed like I'd seen most of his stuff on screen. He does have other work, but most of it is tied to a series surrounding a particular pair of investigators, and I'm not usually into series type stuff like that. I'm sort of a completionist, and I hate getting into series because even if I don't like it I have a hard time walking away.

Anyway, turns out Gone Baby Gone is part of the series. The character Casey Affleck plays, and his girlfriend or that iirc Michelle Moynahan played, are the detectives from the series. Patrick Kenzie and Angela Gennaro are the characters. But the truth is the way they were portrayed in the movie, I barely remember their names, so it sort of feels like they wrote the recurring element out of the film. Which might help if they decide to do more things from that series, because they can use whoever for the characters and let them make a single story arc.

It seemed like they were going to do a horror thing similar with The Warren's when they were the investigators in that movie last year, and now they're basing that Annabelle movie off of another Warren investigation.

[nathanjizzle]

is this movie worth watching

[DukeDelonte13]

is this movie worth watching

yes. And this is coming from someone that doesn't generally like watching movies.

[niko]

Yeah, they're really depicting those neighborhoods from a different era. Pretty much the same in Brooklyn.
The Nets sitting in the middle of the gentrification advertise about being "tough like Brooklyn" with ads featuring Jay Z and other rappers like all the hipsters are chanting "go biggie, go biggie". So it's no surprising movies would do so. :lol When Michael Williams came out to introduce the Nets people looked so confused. "Is that black man a player? Is that Joe Johnson?"

[JohnnySic]

Another Boston movie cliche' is that things always look "dank", for the lack of a better word. Its always dark, wintery/rainy, and cold. Its never summer. WTF is this shiit?

[Thorpesaurous]

Another Boston movie cliche' is that things always look "dank", for the lack of a better word. Its always dark, wintery/rainy, and cold. Its never summer. WTF is this shiit?


There's also apparently no one in all of Boston who does any roofing, exterior house painting, or siding.

The same was true in that Jake Gyllenhaal / Wolverine movie, Prisoners, last year.
About half way through my buddy and I were wispering to each other ... we should move there and start a roofing and siding company.

[Thorpesaurous]

Boston Movies:

Good Will Hunting
Mystic River
Gone Baby Gone
The Departed
The Town

...

I know there's more.

[niko]

Another Boston movie cliche' is that things always look "dank", for the lack of a better word. Its always dark, wintery/rainy, and cold. Its never summer. WTF is this shiit?
That's because of the genre. The genre's don't lend themselves to bright and happy.

[ArbitraryWater]

It was nominated for Academy Awards for best picture, best director, best actor, best adapted screenplay, best supporting actress, and best supporting actor... never heard of it.

Just what I thought... I mean, WTF?

Google it, good reviews... Nominated for an Oscar in just about every category, yet I've never heard of it.. :biggums:

[YouGotServed]

Just what I thought... I mean, WTF?

Google it, good reviews... Nominated for an Oscar in just about every category, yet I've never heard of it.. :biggums:

pretty sure he was being a smartass

[ArbitraryWater]

pretty sure he was being a smartass

I actually have never heard of it :biggums:

[hateraid]

This is the only movie where the ending left me feeling like the world is a shytty place. Literally me at the end ---> :wtf: :facepalm :( :rant

[JohnnySic]

Boston Movies:

Good Will Hunting
Mystic River
Gone Baby Gone
The Departed
The Town

...

I know there's more.
Monument Ave is a good one the isn't well known.
Southie is another not as good one.

[FatComputerNerd]

This is the only movie where the ending left me feeling like the world is a shytty place. Literally me at the end ---> :wtf: :facepalm :( :rant

Watch House of Sand and Fog

[Smoke117]

9.5...really? The acting is good, but it's basically a lifetime movie with A list actors. The plot is no more than above average at best. It was filmed and acted well, but the story is unoriginal and has been done in one way or another a million times. It's about a solid 7.

[Jailblazers7]

It's one of those movies where I liked it upon 1st viewing and I hate it now. Maybe it's because the story is tough to stomach when you already know the twist but I find myself going out of my way to avoid it.

[hateraid]

It's one of those movies where I liked it upon 1st viewing and I hate it now. Maybe it's because the story is tough to stomach when you already know the twist but I find myself going out of my way to avoid it.

My feelings exactly. The ending left me feeling angry. not even a point of redemption.