Mystic River

Title: Mystic River
Year: 2003
Director: Clint Eastwood
Writer: Brian Helgeland, based on the novel by Dennis Lehane
Starring: Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Kevin Bacon, Laurence Fishburne, Marcia Gay Harden
Music: Clint Eastwood
Distinctions: Oscars for Best Actor (Penn) and Best Supporting Actor (Robbins); Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress (Harden); currently #235 on IMDb's Top 250
Synopsis: three childhood friends find themselves involved in a murder investigation, one as detective, one as victim, one as suspect
How I saw it: on video (rented from Netflix), July 2008
Subjective Rating: 5/10 (Indifferent).
Objective Rating: 7/10 (points off for concept, cinematography and subjective rating) c. 2.8/4 (Good).

It's not a mystery, as you might think from the synopsis; the story relies entirely on the characters, not the plot. It's very well done for what it is. But there's non-stop misery. I do not care for joyless movies.