Star cast and powerful direction in memorable movie

Mystic River is the story of three main characters, Dave (Tim Robbins), Jimmy (Sean Penn) and Sean (Kevin Bacon).

We first see them as children playing hockey in the street.

A car drives up and Dave is abducted by two paedophiles pretending to be cops. After four days in captivity he manages to escape.

The story then jumps forward 30 years. Jimmy, Sean and Dave have grown up and gone their different ways.

Dave, who has never fully recovered from his abduction, is married to Celeste (Marcia Gay Harden) and has a son.

Sean is working as a detective and Jimmy is shop owner with a dodgy background. He is married to Annabeth (Laura Linney) and has three daughters.

Then one night Jimmy’s eldest daughter Katie (Emmy Rossum) is brutally murdered and the paths of three childhood friends cross once more.

Sean is one of the detectives investigating the murder and Dave ends up being one of the chief suspects.

The fact that he came home on the night of the murder covered in blood doesn’t exactly help his case.

Jimmy is determined to find the killer before the cops so he can mete out his own particular brand of justice.

Mystic River isn’t just another murder mystery. The importance of their past relationship adds an extra layer to the main characters that you don’t generally find in films of this genre.

Director Clint Eastwood does well to combine this impressive character analysis with an equally impressive line-up of stars.

Penn gives a power performance as the grieving father with revenge on his mind.

Robbins is equally impressive as the psychologically damaged Dave, while Bacon is understated as the man with the impossible job of making sense of all the mayhem.

Mystic River is one of the few films you’ll still be thinking about long after the final credits have rolled.

Drama, 18. 4/5