Not outstanding, but solidly good from all involved.

Rating: 8/10 (28 November 2015)

If David Fincher directed One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, it would probably come out something like Shutter Island. Dark, deep, twisted, menacing and extremely cold - Shutter Island is by far the least Scorsese movie I've ever seen. It misses the moments of levity that made Taxi Driver, Casino and Goodfellas so captivating in their dark themes, but the dark stuff is done so well that its hard to complain about anything in that sense. It doesn't feel at all like a Scorsese picture, but it certainly feels like a well-directed one. The film is probably Scorsese's most visually arresting film since Taxi Driver, and the atmosphere is terrifying thanks to fantastic lighting and sound design from the crew. Some of the film's most incredible sequences are during flashbacks to Dicaprio's war memories, including a long take of his man massacring Nazi guards. There's some horrifying scenes in which slow falls very slowly through a scene in which a big eyed Emily Mortimer stares at the screen.
I find it almost impossible to review Shutter Island without spoiling the twist(s) so I'm doing so. I knew Shutter Island's final twist, but what I really enjoyed was the massive misdirect they threw at us regarding Patricia Clarkson's Rachel and the decision we have to make between whether this is a conspiracy movie like Changeling or a psychological thriller like Memento. Shutter Island falls far closer to The Usual Suspects in execution than something like Se7en - its fun to watch clues for the big reveal even when you know what is coming. The script is tight, with some well written dialogue and incredible themes that radiate all through the film - the recurring comments that "once you are declared insane, no one cares what you have to say" being a prime example. The film's final line, spoken by DiCaprio to Ruffalo, will knock your socks off if you interpret it the way I did.
Thelma Schoonmaker deserves most of the film's kudos for editing the film together so flawlessly to fit the suspense. She makes key decisions not to cut to Kingsley's or Ruffalo's face when Dicaprio learns something extremely important for his "case". Clues are dropped subtly within the film for us to pick up on, and the film rarely drags except on a few scenes that could have been cut altogether (most of John Carroll Lynch's scenes past the first half).
Shutter Island gathers probably the year's finest cast, with everyone doing fine work from Ben Kingsley all the way down to Robin Bartlett in a one scene character. DiCaprio makes for a solid protagonist and does typically fine work but there are a number of moments in which it feels like he is acting, not a real person. The acting is still good, and its hugely benefited from Scorsese's cast and crew - other actors start speaking to him different, a set of circumstances force DiCaprio to wear white clothing. Above all else, his desire not to sound crazy makes him come across as crazy. Ben Kingsley and Max von Sydow are both superb as men who might be conspiratorially evil in one scene and then nothing more than a kind doctor in another. Ruffalo is in his pre-The Kids Are All Right/Foxcatcher excellence phase, but does solid work throughout. The film's actresses - Patricia Clarkson, Emily Mortimer and Michelle Williams - all land slam dunks in their roles. Jackie Earle Haley aces the small part of George Noyce.
Shutter Island is far from perfect, however. Jennifer Dunnington's score is at times overbearing and far from subtle. DiCaprio sometimes overdoes it. Killing his wife because she murdered their children was a big let down after being called "an unspeakable crime". The twist requires us to suspend a bit of disbelief - does Kingsley's experiment make him in control of the weather? Did DiCaprio seriously believe that Ruffalo killed himself after being told to stay put? All of DiCaprio's war stories end up having very little effect on the story, which padded the pretty substantial run time.
Shutter Island is a fine film. Its not remarkable work that will stand out of DiCaprio's or Scorsese's resume, but its a taut, exciting thriller that is worth the time to watch.