Mystic River (film)

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Mystic River
Directed by	Clint Eastwood
Produced by	Robert Lorenz Judie G. Hoyt Clint Eastwood
Written by	Dennis Lehane (novel) Brian Helgeland
Starring	Sean Penn Tim Robbins Kevin Bacon Laurence Fishburne Marcia Gay Harden Laura Linney
Music by	Clint Eastwood
Cinematography	Tom Stern
Editing by	Joel Cox
Distributed by	Warner Brothers
Release date(s)	October 8, 2003
Running time	137 min.
Language	English
IMDb profile

Mystic River is an Academy Award winning American film released in 2003, starring Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon, Laurence Fishburne, Marcia Gay Harden, Laura Linney and Emmy Rossum. The film was written by Brian Helgeland (based on the novel Mystic River by Dennis Lehane) and directed by Clint Eastwood.

The film opened to widespread critical acclaim. It was nominated for 6 Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Supporting Actress. Sean Penn won Best Actor and Tim Robbins won Best Supporting Actor.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Awards and nominations 2.1 Awards 2.2 Nominations 3 DVD release date 4 See also 5 External links

[edit] Plot

The plot of the film revolves around Jimmy, Dave, and Sean who grew up together in one of Boston's working-class Irish districts. When they were all ten years old, and playing together in the street, Dave was kidnapped by pedophiles and sexually abused for four days.

Decades later, they are all still living in Boston. Jimmy (Sean Penn) is an ex-con running a neighborhood store, while Dave (Tim Robbins) is a blue-collar worker, still haunted by his abduction. The two men are still neighbors and related by marriage. Jimmy's 19 year old daughter Katie (Emmy Rossum) is murdered, and Dave emerges as a suspect by Jimmy and by Sean (Kevin Bacon), who is now a detective with the Massachusetts State Police. In a subplot, Sean's wife Lauren has abruptly left him and taken their baby daughter with her, and she frequently calls him on the telephone but literally doesn't say a word.

The climax of the film occurs when Jimmy and his friends get Dave drunk. When Dave leaves the bar to go throw up the men follow him out. Jimmy tells Dave that he will let him live if he confesses to killing his daughter; if he does not he will kill him right there and then. When Dave admits to the crime in an attempt to escape with his life, Jimmy stabs him in the stomach and shoots him in the head anyway. They dispose of his body in the adjacent Mystic River.

The next morning, Jimmy is drowning his sorrows in a bottle of whiskey when Sean sits down next to him. Sean tells Jimmy that the police have Katie's murderers – who have confessed. She was killed by two young neighborhood boys – one of them being her boyfriend's brother – in a violent prank gone wrong. Sean asks Jimmy if he has seen Dave, because he is wanted for questioning in another case. It turns out that Dave killed a pedophile, after finding him with a child prostitute in a car. Later at a parade Dave's wife Celeste frantically tries to get the attention of her despondent son Michael (played by Cayden Boyd). Sean spots Jimmy in the crowd and makes a gun with his hand, 'shooting' it at Jimmy. Jimmy smiles and puts on his sunglasses. The movie concludes with the implication that Sean instinctively knows that Jimmy murdered Dave – and that Jimmy is confident in Sean's unwillingness and inability to prove it.

The Mystic River Bridge features as a prominent visual element in the film.

[edit] Awards and nominations

[edit] Awards

• 76th Academy Awards:
  • Best Actor in a Leading Role (Sean Penn)
  • Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Tim Robbins)
• Art Directors Guild: Feature Film - Contemporary Film (Henry Bumstead [production designer] and Jack G. Taylor Jr. [art director])
• Blue Ribbon Awards: Best Foreign Language Film
• Boston Society of Film Critics: Best Picture, Best Ensemble Cast
• Broadcast Film Critics Association: Best Actor (Sean Penn), Best Supporting Actor (Tim Robbins)
• Cannes Film Festival: Golden Coach (Clint Eastwood)
• Casting Society of America: Best Casting for Feature Film - Drama
• Central Ohio Film Critics: Best Actor (Sean Penn), Best Supporting Actor (Tim Robbins), Best Supporting Actress (Marcia Gay Harden)
• Chicago Film Critics Association: Best Supporting Actor (Tim Robbins)
• César Awards (France): Best Foreign Language Film
• Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association: Best Actor (Sean Penn)
• Florida Film Critics Circle: Best Actor (Sean Penn), Best Supporting Actor (Tim Robbins)
• Fotogramas de Plata (Spain): Best Foreign Language Film
• 61st Golden Globe Awards:
  • Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama (Sean Penn)
  • Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture (Tim Robbins)
• Kansas City Film Critics Circle: Best Actor (Sean Penn)
• Kinema Junpo Awards (Japan): Best Foreign Language Film
• Las Vegas Film Critics Society: Best Actor (Sean Penn)
• London Film Critics Circle: Actor of the Year (Sean Penn), Director of the Year (Clint Eastwood)
• Mainichi Film Concours (Japan): Best Foreign Language Film
• National Board of Review: Best Picture, Best Actor (Sean Penn)
• National Society of Film Critics: Best Director (Clint Eastwood)
• PEN Center USA West Literary Awards: Best Screenplay (Brian Helgelan)
• Sant Jordi Awards (Spain): Best Foreign Language Film
• Satellite Awards: Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama (Sean Penn), Best Screenplay - Adapted (Brian Helgeland)
• Screen Actors Guild: Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role (Sean Penn), Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role (Tim Robbins)
• Seattle Film Critics: Best Supporting Actress (Marcia Gay Harden)
• Southeastern Film Critics Association: Best Supporting Actor (Tim Robbins), Best Screenplay - Adapted (Brian Helgeland)
• USC Scripter Award: Brian Helgeland (screenwriter) and Dennis Lehane (author)
• Uruguayan Film Critics Association (Uruguay): Best Film
• Vancouver Film Critics Circle: Best Actor (Sean Penn)

[edit] Nominations

• 76th Academy Awards:
  • Best Picture
  • Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Marcia Gay Harden)
  • Best Director (Clint Eastwood)
  • Best Screenplay - Adapted (Brian Helgeland)
• American Cinema Editors: Best Edited Feature Film - Dramatic (Joel Cox)
• American Screenwriters Association: Discover Screenwriting Award (Brian Helgeland)
• Argentinean Film Critics Association: Best Foreign Film (Clint Eastwood)
• Australian Film Institute: Best Foreign Film
• Awards of the Japanese Academy: Best Foreign Film
• 57th BAFTA Film Awards:
  • Best Actor in a Leading Role (Sean Penn)
  • Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Tim Robbins)
  • Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Laura Linney)
  • Best Screenplay - Adapted (Brian Helgeland)
• Broadcast Film Critics Association: Best Acting Ensemble, Best Supporting Actress (Mary Gay Harden), Best Director (Clint Eastwood), Best Writer (Brian Helgeland), Best Composer (Clint Eastwood)
• Cannes Film Festival: Golden Palm (Clint Eastwood)
• Cinema Writers Circle (Spain): Best Foreign Film
• European Film Awards: Screen International Award (Clint Eastwood)
• 61st Golden Globe Awards:
  • Best Motion Picture - Drama
  • Best Director - Motion Picture (Clint Eastwood)
  • Best Screenplay - Motion Picture (Brian Helgeland)
• IFTA Awards: Best International Film, Best International Actor (Sean Penn)
• International Horror Guild: Best Movie
• Motion Picture Sound Editors: Best Sound Editing in Domestic Features - Dialogue & ADR
• Online Film Critics Society: Best Picture, Best Actor (Sean Penn), Best Supporting Actor (Tim Robbins), Best Director (Clint Eastwood), Best Screenplay - Adapted (Brian Helgeland)
• PGA Golden Laurel Awards: Motion Picture Producer of the Year Award
• Robert Festival (Denmark): Best American Film
• Satellite Awards: Best Motion Picture - Drama, Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role - Drama (Marcia Gay Harden), Best Director (Clint Eastwood), Best Cinematography (Tom Stern), Best Film Editing (Joel Cox), Best Sound (Alan Robert Murray, Bub Asman, Michael Semanick, Christopher Boyes and Gary Summers)
• Screen Actors Guild: Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture (Kevin Bacon, Laurence Fishburne, Marcia Gay Harden, Laura Linney, Sean Penn and Tim Robbins)
• Writers Guild of America: Best Adapted Screenplay (Brian Helgeland)

[edit] DVD release date

The DVD was released on June 8, 2004 and 3 editions have been released:

• Full Screen Edition
• Widescreen Edition
• 3-Disc Deluxe Edition

[edit] See also

• Pedophilia
• Pedophilia and child sexual abuse in films
• Child sexual abuse

Films directed by Clint Eastwood

Play Misty for Me • High Plains Drifter • Breezy • The Eiger Sanction • The Outlaw Josey Wales • The Gauntlet • Bronco Billy • Firefox • Honkytonk Man • Sudden Impact • Pale Rider • Heartbreak Ridge • Bird • White Hunter Black Heart • The Rookie • Unforgiven • A Perfect World • The Bridges of Madison County • Absolute Power • Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil • True Crime • Space Cowboys • Blood Work • Mystic River • The Blues: Piano Blues • Million Dollar Baby • Flags of Our Fathers • Letters from Iwo Jima

[edit] External links

• Mystic River at the Internet Movie Database