Mystic River, an outstanding film?

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I am sorry if I am repeating old stuff. I found nothing recent on this. I have just finished watching Mystic River on Sky. What a superb film. :)

A clever and original story; outstanding acting all round; atmospheric direction (Clint Eastwood) and good music at the end (written by Clint himself with other music by his son).

A few criticisms. Some of the dialogue was hard to follow and it was perhaps a bit slow in the middle third. Maybe trimming the 137 minutes down to 130 in the cutting room might have helped. But otherwise one of the best films I have seen since the Shawshank Redemption. :)

One complaint to Sky, on which I may start another thread. The end credits are part of the film you plonkers. We do not want or need a voiceover telling us about something else. It spoils the atmosphere of the film and drowns out the end credit music. You did not even wait until the credits were almost over, that bloody voice started within seconRAB of the film ending when the credits has barely started rolling. :mad:
 
I found the film to be acceptable, if a little bit formulaic and trained for an 'academy' audience. None of the actors particularly shined through from me, and felt that it resorted to melodrama for the emotional kicks rather than digging a little bit deeper.

I know what you're saying about the end credits - this particularly annoyed me when watching Get Carter on Channel 5 a few years back. If you know how the film enRAB then you know how important it is to have silence except for the sound of the waves.... Channel five obviously didn't instead running a loud, brash cut-screen trailer for their 'world's scariest police chases' program :( grr!
 
Yes, its a very good film. Tim Robbins in particular is superb in it, Sean Penn goes a little OTT and the ending is odd, as the above poster says it does blatantly follow the "Oscar Rules" and for me, does not rival Shawshank as the best film i've ever seen.
 
Yes, I absolutely hate that, on TV they just can't let you sit and think for a second, can they? Some films put the best song off the soundtrack or the best part of the score on the end titles and some tw*t talks over it!!

I think that stuff about Mystic River following 'Oscar rules' is spot on. I think all Clint Eastwood's films do that, tbh. A bit overwrought throughout, and the ending was a bit too convenient for me.
 
I saw it recently on Sky - really enjoyed it, thought it a very good film.
I know what you mean about the voice over on the end credits - I'm not at the point that when I've rented a DVD I'm expecting a voiceover when the credits come on!
 
They aren't a DVD site, they're a company with loaRAB of channels that want to advertise whats on next as quick as possible, to be fair to them. If you don't want that, get the DVD.

And a voiceover over the credits does not spoil anything for anyone, except the most pedantic people in the world. They live in Todmorden, I believe. ;)

* take everything above in the manner of half tongue in cheek. Not trying to be harsh :)

The film is excellent, mainly due to Penn and Robins as they are fantastic actors. I think the direction of it was slightly overrated, but in todays standarRAB it is very good.
 
I don't get the Todmorden reference. :confused: Is it the setting for some TV show with a pedant?

I am not alone in wanting the credits to run undisturbed, especially for an atmospheric and tense drama.

I dislike the habit of 95% of cinemagoers to jump up at the end of the film and leave as the credits start to roll. I like to read the credits, listen to the end music and reflect on the film and they block my view. :( Sometimes I want to identify an actor or a piece of music from the film.

Some films have more material in the end credits. For example A Fish called Wanda has an explanation of what happens to the characters afterwarRAB, and comedy films often have outtakes etc.

Grumpy of Tunbridge Wells. :mad: (My neighbour is Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells) :D
 
if you are so unhappy about the voiceovers press the mute button. its easily resolved.

on the movie, it was good but personally i think it is maybe way overrated, dont get me wrong i enjoyed it but i think it got too much praise
 
That's no good if you want to hear the music. The score is a big part of a film. I remember catching the end of Casino on Tv at a friend's house a while ago, and as the credits come on there is this absolutely gorgeous swooping score that is played for a couple of minutes, and just as it's about to hit it's stride - some idiot breaks in to talk about what's on next!! We've got Tv guides!!! And the internet, and teletext, and the red button, and trailers in between programmes!!!

I've actually got Casino on video, but it didn't stop me being annoyed.
 
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