Mystic River

[jough]

I saw Mystic River tonight, and now I can't sleep.  It was one of the most affecting times I've experienced watching a film.  The acting is as good as you've heard, the shots are effective without being flashy, but it's something else that's stuck with me, that I can't shake: Atmosphere.

It's something that most films lack, so I appreciate it even more when a film expands itself, when it can build its world on an unused parcel of my mind and set up shop there.

The last hour or so of the film I was left with a nervous empty feeling in my stomach - a few hours later and it's still there.

Someone asked me afterwards whether I "liked" it or not.  I'm certain that I did not.  I'm also certain it's the best film of the year.  And the year before that.

Sure, it follows the predictable plot machinations of the whodunnit police procedural, but it does so with a harrowing style, and an atmosphere of despair - of anticipatory dread that's like a knee on your chest.

I still can't catch a breath.