Mystic River is growing on me...a lot

[TheGodSon]

**Possible spoilers**


When I first saw Mystic River in theatres, I really didn't know what to think of it. First, maybe a 7.5/10. Some plot points seemed out of place, the ending was just there and didn't really seem to solve anything. Now that I look back at it and have seen it a few times and let it wash over me (no pun intended, lol), I've realized that it's become one of my favorite movies. Sean Penn's performance in my opinion is absolutely flawless, and I honestly think it's better than his 21 grams performance, contrary to what a lot of people here think. His oscar is definitely well deserved here. One of the few current actors I think who shows actual emotion so well. All the acting in the movie is fantastic, even Kevin Bacon. The only minor gripe I have is that Lawrance Fishburn's character is undeveloped and at the end we really don't know what happens to him...I guess it would be kind of hard to develop his character without losing focus of the main story. All in all, this movie is slowly becoming my favorites of the past few years. The ending to it now I think seems to fit and I really couldn't see it ending any other way. It's one of the great acting driven movies I've ever seen. Tim Robbins turns out a flawless performance as well. Now, I'm starting to think it's a 9 to a 10/10.

Has this movie grown on anyone to where they like it more and more as they watch it?

[X-Nightcrawler]

Same happened to me with End of Evangelion. First 8/10. Then 9/10, now 10/10.

However, Mystic River is an 8/10 from here.

[Hannibal21]

I loved Mystic River upon first viewing, it didn't even need to grow on me. :)

I've had the same experiences with Citizen Kane and Dr. Strangelove, didn't love them too much at first, but then realized how magnificent they really are.

[Raging Bull080]

That's exactly right, some movies just grow on you, like good music. For me movies like Citizen Kane, A Streetcar Named Desire, Chainatown, and even Taxi Driver (which I have only seen about 12 or 15 times) have grown on me to become some of my favorite movies. As for Mystic River, it was a rare film that I just had to see in the theatre. I thought it was great then after my first viewing, and since I have bought the 3-disc dvd I have seen it three more times. I think it is the best movie of the decade so far. I am not the type of person to see a movie and automatically declare it one of my favorite movies (that very rarely happens) but Mystic River is an exception.

[lynchfan_714]

I liked the movie on first viewing. I didn't think Penn diserved the best actor though but, after viewing 21 Grams, I think it's well diserved, both perforances where great!

Mystic river 8.5/10 for me

[actormickey]

I liked Mystic River, but I was far from loving it. You may want to kill me for this, but, Sean Penn's performance was overrated big time. Tim Robbins did deserve his oscar, Sean Penn didn't make my top 5. There are a lot of great things about the movie but I just can't bring myself to think greater of it. But I did buy the DVD.

[Heavenley]

I thought it was a good drama/mystery. Solid performances by all, and a great cast.

[HansMyHedgehog]

i thought it was an excellent movie the first time i saw it. during the second viewing, i paid more attention to Kevin Bacon's branch of the story, and i realized that he really did do a fine job. also, i didn't know that CLint himself composed a lot of the music for that film. what a guy!

my best friend was avoiding this film because his parents did not like it. i tried to figure out why they disliked a film that i thought was so masterful. i know that his Dad didn't like it because he thought it was very predictable. also, he din't like how the three leads had known each other for so long and were still living in the same city, yet they treated each other like they hardly knew each other. interesting.

all in all, great movie. i need to see it more times.