Movie Review: SHUTTER ISLAND

SHUTTER ISLAND

Movie review by David Blackwell

138 minutes, Rated R

ASPECT RATIO: 2.35:1

STUDIO: Paramount Pictures/ Phoenix Pictures/ Sikelia Productions/ Appian Way

Theatrical RELEASE DATE: 2-19-2010

STARRING Leonardo DiCaprio (Teddy Daniels), Mark Ruffalo (Chuck Aule), Ben Kingsley (Dr. Cawley), Max Von Sydow (Dr. Naehring), Michelle Williams (Dolores), Emily Mortimer (Rachel), Jackie Earle Haley (George Noyce), Elias Koteas (Laeddis)

SCREENPLAY by Laeta Kalogridis

Based on the book by Dennis Lehane

DIRECTED by Martin Scorsese

U.S. Marshall Teddy Daniels comes to Shutter Island to investigate the disappearance of a mental patient from her cell. Shutter Island is at the site of an old Civil War fort and it is a mental hospital for the most dangerous criminally insane people. Daniels and his partner Chuck start to uncover a conspiracy about the island as the doctors are experimenting on patients. Also Daniels is having flashbacks to his time in World War II when he liberated a concentration camp in Germany. To complicate things, he is having weird dreams where his dead wife Dolores is talking to him and dropping clues about what is going on.

SHUTTER ISLAND is a well crafter thriller that layers on the clues and it all makes sense by the end. It may be the type of film where you may see it very differently on a second viewing. The third act twist connects the dots to what is happening in the first two-thirds of the film. The cinematography stands out and sets the tone for this psychological thriller. The acting and music help cement the film further. Leonardo DiCaprio pulls in another good acting job as he shows he can play different characters from film to film. SHUTTER ISLAND is intriguing and the first half goes by very fast with a few bumps in pacing in the second half before the big twist. SHUTTER ISLAND is a great stylish pyschological thriller despite it's few flaws.

This movie review is (c)2-19-2010 David Blackwell and cannot be reprinted without permission. Send all comments to lord_pragmagtic@hotmail.com