So, this weekend I saw MYSTIC RIVER. Everyone has been talking about this movie - and the cast and director gave me very high hopes. When is the last time you saw Sean Penn in something that wasn't at least interesting to watch?

The first 2 hours of the movie totally lived up to the hype. Brilliantly acted, tensely crafted, believable, dark, moving... all that stuff. The last 10 minutes or so were a total disaster. I so wish that someone had told me to just get up and leave the theater at a certain point. The ending was so atrociously illogical and inexplicable that it distracted from the amazing work of art that is the rest of the film.

I would be very interested to hear from anyone who has read the book as to (a) whether the ending is the same; and (b) if the ending is the same, is there stuff in the book that was left out of the movie that makes the ending make sense?