A rewarding and well acted 120 minutes

Rating: 7/10 (10 March 2010)

I often enjoy it when what some may call 'prestige' directors forte into what some may call 'mainstream' move-making for a film or two. You get the best of both worlds; a film palatable for a Friday night, and as well as weight behind the camera. Few would argue that Spielberg's War of the Worlds or Ron Howards Angels & Demons are their respective best work but I'm not one to throw on Citizen Kane over Bad Boys II when I simply want to relax after a day in the grind.
The same can be said for Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island. While I don't want to make unfair assumptions about how other filmmakers would have handled the material, his prowess behind the camera certainly adds some pizazz and gravitas to the material. Shutter Island is the third successful instance of a Dennis Lehane novel, after Mystic River and Gone Baby Gone, being brought to the big screen and here's to hoping this streak of winning adaptations continue. This time around we follow U.S. Marshall Teddy Daniels (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) and his partner Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo) as they investigate the disappearance of a mental patient from a stormy island penitentiary off the coast from Boston in 1954. The shifty resident doctor (played deliciously by Ben Kingsley) does not make things easy for the two as Teddy is haunted not only by the facility itself, but by past demons of his wartime traumas and the death of his wife years earlier.
Revealing much more than that regarding the plot would an injustice to the viewer so I shall say no more. What I will reveal is that DiCaprio turns in another star performance and while I feel it may be lost in the shuffle of the year to come, it is an award worthy exploit. His character complexly navigates between instances of professional integrity and unhinged paranoia. Ruffalo is by all means good in his role but it is, to be blunt, unmemorable. Not for his acting but for how the character is written. The real star is the set design and art direction which never release its grim grip for the length of the film.
There is nothing overtly terrible about Shutter Island only that there is nothing outwardly remarkable about it either. The middle portion sags before its fantastic conclusion and there are a few too many flashbacks and dream sequences all of which add up to a solid, but not great genre exercise. Contrary to the ominous aura of the film, the score utilized is far too brash for its own good; clanging and banging its way through the Gothic atmosphere. While I would not go as far as to create a direct comparison, it recalls the disastrous score from 2008's Blindness. It could have gone a long way to use more Drag Me to Hell style acoustics, which utilize everyday objects and sounds to eerie effect.
As is the unfortunate case with many thrillers and horror flicks, I cannot see Shutter Island standing up to repeat viewings with much potency. I will not deny however its sinister mood and great performances kept me more than entertained for 120 minutes and with its complex and rewarding twists it is still the best movie of this young year.
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