'Shutter Island'

'Shutter Island' (R) ***1/2

Writer: Laeta Kalogridis
Director: Martin Scorcese
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Max Von Sydow, Michelle Williams, Emily Mortimer, John Carroll Lynch, Ted Devine, Jackie Earle Haley

Martin Scorcese is one of the most well respected film makers in Hollywood. His body of work is very impressive and many of his movies are my favorites. There are two kinds of Scorcese movies and one side is dark, violent, gritty and personal. The other kind of Scorcese movie is the more mainstream, genre films and that is the side displayed in "Shutter Island". This movie is more like his "Cape Fear" where the critics thought Scorcese was slumming and doing something beneath his talents. Critics didn't like "Cape Fear" and most critics don't like "Shutter Island" so far.
"Shutter Island" is being viewed as a movie that Scorcese seems to have no deep passion for, just a cheap thriller knock off that any hack could make. I disagree for Scorcese brilliantly shows his deep love and passion for movies and his devotion to those old psychological thrillers like Samuel Fuller's "Shock Corridor". The man clearly loves movies and it shows here. This is an old fashioned "B" movie with dramatic music, psychos, thunder and lightning with a dash of doom and gloom. I also saw it as a throwback to the detective movies of the 40's. For everyone else who is not familiar with those types of films, the movie is just plain fun!

"Shutter Island" is based on the novel by Dennis Lehane whose "Mystic River" and "Gone Baby Gone" made two of the best movies of the last decade. He is my favorite author right now and I loved his "Shutter Island" book. The movie is very faithful to the book and does it justice. The movie stars Leonardo DiCaprio as one of two Federal Marshalls called in to track down a missing mental patient who escaped from the asylum known as Shutter Island. This is quite a fantastic looking setting for a thriller with it's dark corridors and dark interiors inside and it's dangerous cliffs outside. It always seems to be pouring rain and thundering outside also. The film sets an ominous and creepy tone from the start and the movie is beautiful to look at and soak in. The movie does a great job of setting up the suspense and making you curious about the mystery that unfolds. You can tell this is a Scorcese movie with it's unique, grand and sweeping camera movement. It clearly shows his love of these kinds of movies. If you have read the book you know that there is a big twist at the end and I didn't see it coming. The movie is the same way for those you did not read the book and it is a very imaginative twist. Leonardo DiCaprio is again amazing in the lead role. This is a performance I actually think only he could pull off and make great. I can't explain why I feel this way because then I will give away the twist ending. Let's just say that he is one of our finest actors and you would not expect such a powerful performance in a genre thriller like this. There is great support from Mark Ruffalo as the other Marshall and from the fine actress Michelle Williams. There are also two perfectly cast roles played by Max Von Sydow and Ben Kingsley who come off as creepy and sinister. This movie had me going and I had a wonderful time revisiting the story from Lehane's great book. The movie looks beautiful, has great suspense and chills and a solid story with a wonderful twist ending. It might seem like a lesser Scorcese movie to some but no one can have this much fun and make a movie look as good as he does here.