What's great about Mystic River is that it's such an involving character study of these three men. Most movies would just revolve around the murder-mystery, but Eastwood takes his characters deeper – having them ask themselves questions like if, as boys, another one of them had gotten in the car with those child molesters, would their lives have been totally different?

Penn plays his father figure role with such genuine compassion and grief that the audience is stunned to find out he has a darker side when it's revealed early in the film. Robbins is so good at playing a haunted man, that we never quite know until the end whether his character is guilty, emotionally scarred, or both. Even Bacon is superb – a man who handles his police work almost flawlessly, but has a personal life that is in shambles.

About 20 minutes into Mystic River, I realized I was watching much more than the best movie I've seen this year…I was watching a classic. This is a film that not only stays with you long after you leave the theater, but should be staying with us for a long time as one of the best films of the new century.

Oscars or no Oscars, Mystic River sweeps you up in its powerful current and carries you into a story you'll never forget.