5.4/10

I guess I'm the voice of dissent here. I know of a certain other poster here who isn't a fan, but I'll keep his identity secret for now. Clint's steady directorial hand is present and welcome, but the movie doesn't work. The entire plot hinges on a series of utterly ridiculous coincidences and misunderstandings, climaxing in a finale that's frustrating and overblown.

Plus, the movie couldn't have had less resonance for me if it was about Martians trying to buy a DVD of The Longest Yard.

I thought the performances by Penn and Robbins (The 'vampire' speech had me laughing like a madman) were wildly overrated, but Marcia Gay Harden's understated work was quite effective (I was happy when the Oscars acknowledged her).

I found Mystic River to be quite engrossing, but engrossing in a souped-up episode of Law & Order kinda way. The performances were good, though a tad overwrought and the story is an example of the dictionary definition of 'contrived'. Shakespeare might be able to get away with this sort of thing, but Dirty Harry fumbled the .45 Magnum on this dissembling assembly. Unforgiven was much, much better. It's a shame too, what with all those good actors just running around in circles. Still, despite all of that, it was okay seeing it the once.

3 out of 5.

Agreed.

Some superb direction, I thought, but I found the whole thing to be a bit overt: obvious Shakespearean characterizations (Laura Linney's character didn't work for me), some straining performances (Tim Robbins didn't do it for me either), and a plotline that concluded, in my opinion, rather lazily.

Some have talked of a 'sickening' feeling after having watched this one, and while I understand, I just didn't find it powerful enough to relate. Million Dollar Baby, though? Yes.

Well said.

Ditto.

And the last scene, with SPOILERS Marcia Gay Harden alone, trying to get a reaction from his son at the parade END SPOILERS was one of the most heartbreakings moments of the last few years for me.

I find it very shocking on the rare occasions that we agree...

I loved it. Great character development and direction. The thing I like about Eastwood movies is that he seems to know what to focuss on and what to leave out. It's definately in the top tier somewhere (A-/A)

I won't go into detail but this a shockingly gritty and tragically touching movie with incredible performances and fantastic direction. The second best movie of 2003 (yes, behind ROTK). Penn in particular blew me away.
10/10 (better than any 2008 movie)

Meh.

***/**** B