Thanks for checking out our Shutter Island review.
Genre: Suspense Drama
Directed by: Martin Scorsese
Staring:Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Michelle Williams, Emily Mortimer, Patricia Clarkson, Jackie Earle Haley, Ted Levine
Released: February 19, 2010
THE GENERAL IDEA
Drama is set in 1954, U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels is investigating the disappearance of a murderess who escaped from a hospital for the criminally insane and is presumed to be hiding on the remote Shutter Island. Once there its revealed that Teddy has his own agenda, tracking down a criminal he has a personal agenda against.
THE GOOD
The cast is perfect. Of course I have yet to be disappointed by DiCaprio (The Beach doesn’t exist to me – shuddap) and the rest of the cast fits in perfectly as well. DiCaprio’s Boston dialect is dead on, and surprisingly Mark Ruffalo steps up from his normal light fare to deliver a wonderful supporting role as Teddy’s assistant. And Kingsley is just delicious as the resident psychiatrist.
This is a real thinking movie. It will have you on your toes the whole time trying to “figure it out” and you wont. Like a lot of Scorsese films, each detail is important and is a brick being laid down in constructing the film. When something seems random, 15 minutes later something happens that tells you it wasn’t. And by the time you get all the details straight you realize that there is a solid beautifully built wall in front of you.
Don’t go pee. Don’t order the big pop. Get comfy. With 2 hours of actual film, this requires you to watch every detail of the film. Everything is important. Nothing is fluff. It all matters.
The film keeps you in the dark, which just makes you feel the US Marshall’s frustration even more. And the last 5 minutes of the film makes it ALL worth it. The most brilliant part of the plot is in the conclusion when it all makes sense and the crime is solved.
THE BAD
The film is confusing – on purpose. You have to be patient as it is all explained, and is so worth it. I have heard a number of people say they were too confused about the film and it left them lost. Be patient and pay attention and it all works. Its an unorthodox delivery which some may find disorienting, but it all comes together.
Aside from keeping you in the dark, which is part of the point, I don’t have much bad to say about this movie.
OVERALL
A very deep and thought provoking film. The closing statement from Teddy will have you blown away and thinking long after the credits have rolled. I don’t know if there is a greater compliment to give a movie than to say it rolls on in the mind long after it ends.
I give Shutter Island an 8 out of 10
