FILM · 2003 · USA
Mystic River
- Directed by
- Clint Eastwood
- Runtime
- 138 min
- Studio
- Warner Bros. Pictures, Village Roadshow Pictures, NPV Entertainment
18 archived facts 4 topics 1 source Last reviewed Nov 2026
The lives of three men who were childhood friends are shattered when one of them suffers a family tragedy.
18 Interesting Facts About Mystic River
Interesting Facts (12)
- #001
The film's opening comes from something that happened to writer Dennis Lehane as a child: his mother gave him a fierce telling-off for getting into a car with men who claimed to be plainclothes police officers.
- #002
Warner Bros. executives wanted Clint Eastwood to shoot in Toronto, Ontario, to save money. Eastwood refused and insisted on Boston, where the whole story takes place.
- #003
Contains a major spoiler — show
When young Dave is pushed into the back seat, the man in the front passenger seat turns around and flashes a bishop's ring. The book never says the character is a priest; the detail was added because the film was shot during the sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston.
- #004
Contains a major spoiler — show
For the scene where Jimmy Markum sobs and writhes in anguish after Katie's body is found, Sean Penn asked for an oxygen tank to be on hand for when he finished the take.
- #005
The novel's author can be seen waving from the back of an open car in the parade scene.
- #006
Eli Wallach, in his first film with Clint Eastwood since The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966), appears uncredited as a liquor store owner.
- #007
To research his character's job, Kevin Bacon spent time working in a Massachusetts State Police office.
- #008
Praising Clint Eastwood's working style, Tim Robbins said he was never called for more than 7 hours a day, and usually less.
- #009
At the film's press conference, producer-director Clint Eastwood called the Iraq war a "big mistake" and defended Sean Penn's trip to Baghdad, saying that at Penn's age he might have done the same.
- #010
Contains a major spoiler — show
As adults, the three friends Jimmy (Sean Penn), Dave (Tim Robbins) and Sean (Kevin Bacon) never share a scene.
- #011
The tune the band plays in the parade at the end is John Philip Sousa's "Semper Fidelis," Latin for "always faithful."
- #012
The gravestone scene was shot at Wellsmere Monumental Works in Roslindale because the backdrop had open fields on two sides and, on the other, an old house from the 1820s that still stands at 3849 Washington Street.
Production Story (2)
- #013
Cannes Film Festival director Thierry Frémaux often says that if he has a bad memory of the festival, one has to call Clint Eastwood to say that this film won no awards.
- #014
More than 2,000 people who wanted to be extras in this film attended the Boston Teachers Union's open casting call on September 14, 2002. Carolyn Pickman of Collinge-Pickman Casting told The Boston Globe a week later that about two-thirds of those who tried out would be called to fill a church and a local bar, play spectators in a parade or walk through other scenes. People of all kinds from the Boston area (and as far away as New Hampshire) attended the call, and ultimately waited in long lines to hand in their applications and have their photos taken.
Characters & Cast (3)
- #015
Michael Keaton was originally cast as Sean Devine. He had done several script readings with the rest of the main cast, was researching the role with the Massachusetts State Police and had been living in Boston for weeks. A month before principal photography, he and producer-director Clint Eastwood had a major falling-out, and Keaton left the film. Kevin Bacon was cast a week later.
- #016
Eli Wallach said he shot his scene in one continuous take without a single direction from Clint Eastwood, who trusted his acting so much that knowing his lines was all that was needed.
- #017
The film Dave Boyle is watching is Vampires (1998), starring James Woods. Woods's role, Jack Crow, had first been offered to Clint Eastwood.
Career & Awards (1)
- #018
Contains a major spoiler — show
In the scene where Jimmy Markum walks into the morgue, sees his daughter Katie's body and vows revenge, Emmy Rossum burst into tears, saying "the scene was so powerful and moving, and Sean Penn was so amazing."
Related pages
- Emmy Rossum — Mystic River comes up in the facts on that page
- Million Dollar Baby — Mystic River comes up in the facts on that page
- The Day After Tomorrow — Mystic River comes up in the facts on that page
Sources & editorial notes
Reference databases
- Wikipedia
- IMDb
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