Shutter Island Review

At times it truly seems as though Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio were made for each other. Note when I am saying that I'm not implying any homosexual undercurrents. Now, the reason for my conclusion about their fate came from the many interviews I watched and read before ever watching “Shutter Island.” See, Scorsese needs an actor that can harbor extreme emotions, such as male-inadequacy, guilt and anger. Leonardo DiCaprio's facial features are so strong that even though his expressions appear similar throughout films we cannot help but be compelled simply do to their power. In addition to this, Scorsese needs an actor that will shut the hell up and do what they're told, and when it comes to that DiCaprio excels. Quite to the contrary of what many people may believe, DiCaprio isn't a stuck-up hunk actor, in fact he despises that persona. Rather, he's an actor who can conjure up a wide range of emotions at his very whim, however he only does what his director tells him, making him prime material for someone as meticulous and brilliant as Scorsese. Now I bet you're wondering “Well that's nice, but what the fuck does this have to do with 'Shutter Island?'” Well, I say this because “Shutter Island” is a prime example of a strong actor with perfect emotional direction. Granted, it is in no way a good follow up to “The Departed” but is still an enthralling and emotionally compelling psychological thriller/detective movie with some refreshing retro-style noir.

“Shutter Island” follows the story of U.S. Marshall Teddy Daniels, a WWII veteran who's family died in a fire. His most recent assignment has been to investigate a case of a missing murderess on an infamous the infamous Shutter Island, home of the Ashecliffe Hospital for the Criminally Insane. Danny, like many others, has heard of the mysterious Shutter Island but luckily has never had to go there, or so it seems. Danny quickly realizes that there's something strange going on at Ashecliffe, something that somehow ties into his past, such as his WWII experiences and the night his family burned to death in a fire. Like classic noir detectives Danny becomes enraptured and over-involved in his case, leading to him discovering things that he arguably may have been better of never knowing at all.

I feel nick-picky but I have to mention this: at times the drama of the film's music seems too overbearing. Granted, there are only a few scenes in which it transcends the moment and becomes melodramatic but for the most part the the music works perfectly with the situations. I guess the primary reason my stating that fact is that for a director as refined and calculated as Scorsese I expected more. Now, others may find those moments stylized and enjoyable but I see them as immature and at times laughable. Overall, the good outweighs the bad though.

Seeing as I air on the side of cowardice when it comes to movies I'm not quite sure if I can objectively state how frightening this movie can be. Like any good psychological thriller there are a lot of surprising, surrealistic, pop-out-and-scare-you moments intermittent between Danny's slow discovery of the secrets of Ashecliffe. However, when it comes to you viewer discovering along with Danny it ultimately fails. The twist at the end was as I predicted it to be, only the process to finally discovering that twist was rather disappointing. With a good beginning and freaky psychological hallucination/dream sequences the film makes a strong start. The questions quite appropriately pile on one after another until we're brimming with anticipation. But then the story becomes lazy and spills out everything at the very end through a single conversation. I'm not sure if this is Scorsese's (the director) , Kalogridis and Knight's (the ones who adapted the screenplay), or Lehane's (the one who wrote the novel) fault, but the ending is just so damn lazy. Now, if I were to say I didn't enjoy it that would be a lie, just that there was so much potential for the ending and so much done right in the earlier portions of the film that it just felt stale. Nevertheless, it is still and thoroughly enjoyable, strongly acted, and even emotionally compelling film. I just expected more from the dynamic duo that is Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio.