Shutter Island [2010]

Dennis Lehane’s books tend to be ready-made recipes for dark, brooding movies, cases in point: Clint Eastwood’s Mystic River and Ben Affleck’s Gone Baby Gone. This time around we have the little giant Marty Scorsese adapting a Lehane book for his Shutter Island. Scorsese sure must have had some fun while making this overtly plot-based movie filled with the kind of genre conventions, tropes and B-film sensibilities, even bordering on kitsch at times, certainly not reminiscent of the kind of masterwork that he is renowned for. But that certainly shouldn’t mean that the film is not enjoyable, rather far from it. Set on the eponymous island that houses a mental institution for the criminally insane managed by the mysterious Dr. Cawley (Ben Kingsley), former World War II veteran and federal Marshall Teddy Daniels (expertly played by Leonardo DiCaprio), who harbours some deep trauma from his past, is sent there along with his sidekick Chuck (Mark Ruffalo) to investigate the mysterious disappearance of a patient, completely oblivious of the shattering twists that await him there. The stylized photography, moody atmospherics, tight editing and fine acting do make for a fair share of thrills and excitements. However, despite the themes of guilt and redemption dominating the proceedings and the ambiguous ending, at the end of the day it remains nothing more than a tense and reasonably gripping entertainer.





Director: Martin Scorsese
Genre: Thriller/Psychological Thriller
Language: English
Country: US