Availability: Currently In Theaters
The Skinny: Set in 1954 Boston Harbor, the film tells the story of Teddy Daniels (DiCaprio), a federal Marshall sent in to investigate the disappearance of a murderess from a hospital for the criminally insane.
Along with his new partner Chuck Aule (Ruffalo) the two Marshalls discover that there is more than meets the eye and something sinister may be happening on the hospital grounds. Soon, the two men are trapped on the island in the torrential rain and wind of a hurricane while a homicidal maniac is on the loose.
The Good: Shutter Island is a visually stunning film first and foremost. The grainy noir style, the films use of set pieces, the thunderous and haunting score and top notch acting talent push this drama into uncharted territory that successfully straddles drama, mystery, thriller and horror movie all in one gothic and grandiose film.
Scorsese is a masterful director and channels his inner Lynch in presenting a complex and multi-layered story without overly-confusing the audience.
There are plenty of twists and turns and red-herrings to keep the audience on guard as focus shifts from the mystery of the missing patient to the revelation that there is an unaccounted for patient in the facility.
Once you wrap your head around that, the film then ramps into overdrive as Teddy’s traumatic back-story is slowly revealed and the possibility that the island is far more sinister than a rehabilitation center for the criminally insane comes to light.
On the surface, Shutter Island is rich, deep and terrifying and delivers some intense moments of terror, mystery and angst.
The Bad:
Considering the list of names involved with Shutter Island, one would almost expect sheer perfection from the movie-going experience of Shutter Island. Based on the Novel by Dennis LeHane, directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo , Ben Kingsley, Michelle “cry on command” Williams, Max Von Sydow, and Jackie Earle Haley.
So what keeps this film from achieving the greatness that was obviously the vision of the director? The answer is simple. The film, like so many before it, cheats. The sad realization that the viewer has been manipulated, lied to and ultimately controlled is too much to overlook by the time the credits roll.
After having invested 2 hours in a thrilling mystery, the twist reveal at the end makes it all completely worthless and the viewer is left to pick up the pieces and walk into the stark light of reality knowing that they just watched the equivalent of an elaborate hoax.
It is so unforgiveable of a cheat that in the final 15 minutes of the film, when the reveal was made about everything on the island that I thought…surely there is another twist coming. But there was not and the credits rolled and I sat there trying to come to terms with how such a fantastic movie could unravel so quickly with a twist that has been done numerous times. It wasn’t even original…just depressing when all was said and done.
Herein lies the rub…the film is still a great movie wrought with suspense and mystery and some truly outstanding filmmaking. It is just a damn shame that you cannot watch it more than once knowing that it is going to run afoul in the closing chapter. It is the visual equivalent of eating a pint of the best ice cream ever and finding a toenail at the bottom. It was delicious until then and made the enjoyable journey to that point inconsequential.
The Verdict: it is not as cut and dry as it may seem. I want people to see this film for the 2 hours that it was perfect. I want them to avoid it for the 15 minutes where it all unraveled like a roll of cheap toilet paper. So I say…at the two hour mark…leave. Trust me, it won’t matter that you don’t see the end and you may be better for it.
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