Directed by Clint Eastwood , the mysterious drama Mystic River is based on the novel by Dennis Lehane and adapted by screenwriter Brian Helgeland . Set in an Irish neighborhood in Boston, Jimmy, Sean, and Dave are three childhood friends who are reunited after a brutal murder takes place. Reformed convict Jimmy Markum ( Sean Penn ) and his devoted wife Annabeth (Laura Linney) find out that their teenage daughter Katie ( Emmy Rossum ) has been beaten and killed. Jimmy's old friend Sean Devine ( Kevin Bacon ) is the homicide detective assigned to the case, along with partner Whitey Powers ( Laurence Fishburne ). Jimmy also gets his relatives, the Savage brothers ( Adam Nelson and Robert Wahlberg ), to conduct an investigation of their own. Jimmy and Sean both start to suspect their old pal, Dave Boyle ( Tim Robbins ), who lives a quiet life with his wife Celeste ( Marcia Gay Harden ) but harbors some disturbing secrets. Clint Eastwood won a Golden Coach for Mystic River at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival . — Andrea LeVasseur