Shutter Island Review

Martin Scorcese can't do any wrong, and I stand by that statement. With that I have to say that this year he came dangerously close. Shutter Island is the story of U.S. Deputy Marshall Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his journey to a mental institution where a patient has mysteriously vanished. Nobody has any idea how the prisoner, Rachel Solando got out of her room, and it doesn't really seem possible. To add to the intrigue the hospital staff are refusing to fully cooperate with the investigation. This leads Teddy to believe that the doctors are plotting against him to make sure that he's never let off the island.

At first the film seems on solid ground, but it soon becomes apparent what the big secret that they are waiting until the end of the film to reveal is. I'm not going to spoil it because the film is good. The cinematography, editing, and choice of music is reflective of Scorcese's genius. I don't think that in the hands of anybody other than Martin Scorcese this film would be any good at all. He's able to bring so much about the characters to the surface that nobody else would be able to.

The performances are all solid, especially considering some of the characters are only hallucinations and have no secrets. Leo DiCaprio is amazing as always and he goes a ways toward fooling us about the twist ending. Ben Kingsley does a great job as the head physician at the hospital who has his own secret mission that he is very attentive to. The best performance in the film is definitely Mark Ruffalo as Teddy Daniels' partner Chuck, and it may not seem so at first but by the end you willing be marveling at his powers of deception. The film may run a little long and is certainly ranked far below Scorcese's other films but it is still a worthy relief from the derivative junk we've been dealing with so far this year. My grade for Shutter Island is B.