Directed by Martin Scorsese
Written by Laeta Kalogridis
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Michelle Williams, Patricia Clarkson, Max von Sydow
Rated R for violence, nudity, and profanity
Rating - 2 bullet holes
The opening notes of Shutter Island hooked me. Apparently, they are Ingram Marshall’s 1981 “Fog Tropes”. I wasn’t familiar with the piece, but its somber and emphatic notes evoked classics such as J. Lee Thompson’s 1962 Cape Fear. That film, of course, was remade by Scorcese. Like that film, Shutter wastes no time in creating an atmosphere of dread.
Scorsese mainstay Leonardo DiCaprio plays Teddy Daniels. He and his new partner Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo) are federal marshals sent to a remote island off Boston to investigate the disappearance of a prisoner from the castle-turned-prison for violent offenders who are criminally insane. There, Dr. Cawley (Ben Kingsley) explains that he sees these people as his patients, not prisoners. He has lofty goals of helping these criminals instead of punishing them. Dr. Cawley explains that the patient in question, a mother named Rachel who drowned her children, simply vanished from her room without a trace. The disappearance has truly perpelxed him but Daniels and Aule suspect it was an inside job.
This is a departure for Scorsese, and he certainly seems to have a firm grasp of the psychological thriller. He effectively creates a David Lynch-like nightmare in which fantasy and reality blur. At times, the film is difficult to follow, but that’s the point. And what more can be said about DiCaprio? The guy can seriously act. Gone is the innocent, golden-haired Jack. Though, if you’re really keeping score, labeling DiCaprio as a romantic lead is naive. Check out What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, The Basketball Diaries, and This Boy’s Life which all came before Titanic. He shines when he is plumbing the deep, dark, violent depths of his characters. His performance here is nothing short of great once again.
Technically, the film is magnificent. Who would expect less from Scorsese? But my biggest problem is with the story. This is a difficult film to review without giving away key plot elements. Based on the novel by Dennis Lehane, Shutter Island didn’t have a whole lot of surprises for me. If you’re an aficionado of psychological thrillers and have seen the trailer, you probably have a good idea of where the story is going. I had it pegged from almost the very beginning. As a result, I ended up being bored throughout most of it. As the layers of the plot begin to be peeled away, I was almost open-mouthed with shock at how much the film keeps kicking a dead horse. Ok I get it I kept thinking.
I can’t help it. I’m such a stickler for a good story. I know this is Scorsese. I know he is a legend. I know he’s made some true classics, and I’m a fan of a lot of them. I know he makes masterpieces. But, I don’t think Shutter Island is one by any stretch of the imagination. I just wasn’t engaged by it. If you want a much better adaptation of a Lehane novel, watch Mystic River.
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