Sunday, February 21, 2010

Shutter Island (Review)

     I couldn't wait for "Shutter Island."  Martin Scorsese, Leonardo DiCaprio, and a creepy, psychological thriller; what could possibly go wrong?  Well, not much, but the end was a bit of a let down.

     "Shutter Island," as I said before, is a creepy, psychological thriller directed by film legend Martin Scorsese and starring Leonardo DiCaprio as federal marshal Teddy Daniels, who's investigating the apparent disappearance of a 'patient' from the asylum for the criminally insane on Shutter island, where nothing is as it seems and everyone's motives are in question.

     Just about everything in "Shutter Island" is dead on.  Martin Scorsese knows how to make a movie.  The actors give great performances, the cinematography is breathtaking, frightening, shocking, or whatever else Scorsese wants it to be, the story is suspenseful yet reveals its self at a good pace, and the pace keeps your attention through all two hours and eighteen minutes of film.  For me, though, the twist ending was a bit of a disappointment.  (This is where you stop reading if you don't want to know too much!) 
I enjoyed most of the movie because it was a true psychological thriller, but felt a bit let down when I realized I had sat through all of that and most of it was not real.  I think I would have preferred to have the true nature of federal marshal Teddy Daniels hinted at sooner.  Having it all spelled out at the end, and not even knowing the absolute truth of it until the very end, just seems to bring all the momentum the story has built to that point to a screeching halt and was more of a disappointment than a shock. 

      It's hard to miss with Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio, and Scorsese doesn't miss, but for me, "Shutter Island" wasn't the psychological thriller I had hoped it would be.

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