Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Max Von Syndow
Score: 8.5 out of 10
Possible spoilers follow. If you haven’t read the book, beware.
Martin Scorsese has never made a bad film. Even his mediocre work is a step above just simply good. That’s the best way I can think to describe Shutter Island.
If you’ve read Dennis Lehane’s novel, you’ve seen the movie. The film is less of an adaptation and more of pictorial reading of the book, which is not a bad thing. It’s an excellent novel, but the twist at the end is far less fun when you know exactly what’s coming before the lights go down.
The story starts off simply enough, but progression builds its layers. Shutter Island is a small isle off the coast of Massachusetts, home to an asylum for the criminally insane. Leonardo DiCaprio plays Edward “Teddy” Daniels, an agent with the U.S. Marshall Service. Along with his brand new partner, Chuck (Mark Ruffalo), Teddy is dispatched to the island to investigate the disappearance of a patient/prisoner who seemingly disappeared into thin air.
From the moment Teddy and Chuck step off the ferry from Boston, it’s apparent something’s not right. The guards are twitchy, the patients anxious, the missing patient’s doctor (Ben Kingsley, played with his usual efficiency) elusive. The story about how patient Rachel Solando disappeared just doesn’t add up. The investigation builds, questions lead into answers shrouded in subterfuge taunting the officers.
There’s not much more I can say about the film’s plot without giving it all away, but those who have read the book know where things are leading. The film makes it easy to follow Scorsese and company down the path and, in a lesser filmmaker’s hands, the story might have maudlin and laughable. There’s an underlying chaos to the story that’s reigned in just enough so the insanity (pun intended) doesn’t overrun what Scorsese wants you to focus on at the moment. This is important because without this steady direction the film could have been an unadulterated mess. On the downside though, there’s no interpretation to the novel, which is something I would have liked to have seen. Screenwriter Laeta Kalogridis (whose resume includes the film Alexander and episodes of the new “Bionic Woman”--take from that what you will) is maddeningly faithful to the novel, which I’m not sure should really be a complaint as it’s really quite excellent, but films are not books. Books allow for the reflection of the reader; movies require some reflection by the filmmaker. That’s not here and it’s a disappointment, albeit a minor one.
The cast as a whole is excellent. DiCaprio is doing an amazing job with his career shunning the romantic comedy or action trap that would be so easy to fall into. He’s an actor’s actor with a fierce intelligence behind all his performances. Of also special note is Michelle Williams as Teddy’s deceased wife, who in brilliantly constructed dream sequences, brings to life Teddy’s destroyed psyche and brittle emotions. Without Williams’ fragile performance, the scenes simply would not have worked.
Shutter Island is a very good movie and definitely worth a look, but don’t expect one of Scorsese’s masterpieces. It’s a capable film that’s better than most, but lacking in an individual voice.
