I'm not willing to be quite that definitive about it, I guess; I liked Mystic River and Unforgiven is one of my favorite movies. But I suppose you could chalk that up to the law of averages. It does seem that his directing style favors talented veterans, while the unknowns he's chosen to work with lately have been steamrolled by the process. The Hmong kid who plays the second lead here said that Eastwood would often add scenes to the shooting schedule, forcing everyone to learn their lines in 10 or 15 minutes, and it shows.