Go with the flow and enjoy it!

Rating: 7/10 (30 March 2010)

I don't think I'm giving much away by saying that it shouldn't take you long to come to the conclusion that everything isn't quite as it seems.
Based on the novel by Dennis Lehane, who has had a few of his novels filmed in the last few years (Gone Baby Gone and Mystic River) the film opens as US Marshalls Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo travel to the institution for the criminally insane on Shutter Island. A female inmate who murdered her children but refuses to accept it has disappeared from a locked cell. They meet the doctors and some of the prisoners. Soon however DiCaprio's character starts having strange dreams and flashbacks to his time as a soldier when he was present at the liberation of Dachau.
To tell any more might spoil the ending. It's obvious that renowned film buff Scorsese had fun making this film. There are nods to a few genres – supernatural thrillers, whodunits, prison/asylum stories.
The film has an old fashioned feel to it. From the 1950's costumes to the institution with it's dungeon-like cells for the most disturbed inmates Scorsese nicely brings the story to the boil leading up to the climax.
The performances are good, although DiCaprio's constant intense frown does tend to get on my nerves. Ben Kingsley and Max Von Sydow (great to see him) are excellent as the head doctors. Mark Ruffalo is good as DiCaprio's sidekick.
I liked the film a lot. My advice would be not to think about the plot too much but go with the flow and enjoy one of the all time great filmmakers showing off his talents in a new genre.