The best thriller since "The Silence of the Lambs"

Rating: 9/10 (21 February 2010)

Martin Scorsese has done it again! He has crafted one of the best psychological thrillers to hit screens since The Silence of the Lambs. Shutter Island sizzles with pure excitement, tension, and powerful performances. Starring Academy Award Nominee Leonardo DiCaprio as Teddy Daniels, a Federal Marshall visiting Shutter Island in order to find an escaped patient, Rachel Salondo, who vanished without any trace. Along with his partner Chuck (Mark Ruffalo), the two uncover a web of lies and corruption that may have taken more a toll on them than initially expected.
Shutter Island is one of the rare occurrences captured on film that I've seen in my lifetime, which could land its way into a cinematic classic in years to come. Scorsese has taken liberties and chances we haven't seen of him before and in this latter part of his career, he shows no sign of losing his touch. Teaming with writer Laeta Kalogridis to adapt this chilling novel by Dennis Lehane, Scorsese has set the bar for the rest of the films of 2010, and that bar is set extremely high. The film succeeds so masterfully thanks to three of Scorsese's crew. Cinematographer Robert Richardson shows the most beautiful camera work to grace the screen since Roger Deakins' The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. His artistic choices in shots institutes the most immense amount of tension and elegant work of his career. The great film editor Thelma Schoonmaker, one of Scorsese's great tools on his belt, shows once again, she is one of the best in business. She chops shots together as she was dicing up onions, never cracking under the pressure and keeping it all at a well constructed, sublime piece of art. The last pillar in the arrangement of the film is Composer Robbie Richardson, who goes back to the root of film encompassing the fierce brutality of Kalogridis' screenplay.
Besides the heavy hitters of the picture behind the scenes, the performances of the cast are all top notch. DiCaprio has given one of his strongest works yet. He fights his way through the screen, taking no prisoners along the way and digging deep into a role where no sign of Leo is to be found. Ruffalo, definitely one of the most underrated actors in Hollywood nails his role. He strings us along with him, where the more we know, the more we don't want to let go. Ben Kingsley, as naturalistic and effortless as he can be, still proves he's one of the best working actors of the last generation. Kingsley as the mysterious and deviant Dr. Cawley, keeps us at arm's distance and doesn't let us in until it's under his own terms. Michelle Williams has her finest moments captured on film of her career. She's untouchable, intangible, and nearly unrecognizable as a haunting wife in the life of Teddy. Williams proves to be seconds away from becoming the biggest thing that Hollywood has to offer. Max Von Sydow and Emily Mortimer are both memorable and adequate in their respective roles. Even with the brief performances of Academy Award Nominees Patricia Clarkson and Jackie Earle Haley that blaze their way through the screen, they leave a massacre of audience members only wanting more.
The question of the minds of many viewers is, should this film have been pushed back from its original October 2009 release and be in contention for next year's Oscar ceremony? I can't for the life of me think why this wouldn't be pushed as the big juggernaut of the studio's awards season. With the Academy Awards keeping the ten Best Picture nominees for the ceremony of 2011, this may be the first spot taken in the lineup before this year's ceremony hasn't even occurred. It's a brilliant piece of cinema, with the sheer tenacity and gumption to stand the tests of time as one of the best psychological pictures created in ages. Some may argue that's predictable, some may argue it wasn't "scary"; like they thought it would be; it's a surprise view but one worthy of the highest praise.
****/****