Old-fashioned, Satisfying Quality

Rating: 9/10 (19 June 2010)

These days it's unusual to leave a movie feeling perfectly satisfied and glad you came. Thank you, 'Shutter Island'. I won't relate story here; no need. Nor will I say much about Scorcese except that, thank God, he had a fine story to work with, and that's all he needs to be masterful. The performances are uniformly excellent, too. What I want to address are the critics - some respected and erudite - who seem to feel that any shifting of a necessarily complex tale at the end is a 'cheat'. Trust me - SI brings it all home and almost exactly right. So too do these same critics love to have fun with Ben Kingsley and Max Von Sydow playing, it seems, any roles at all. Reviews have had much fun with Kingsley's mysterious persona, and Von Sydow's austere presence. This is garbage. Both men never overplay, certainly not here, and deliver top work. I suppose they're guilty of looking and sounding like...well, who they are. Never mind, though. This is a marvelous, enjoyable, at times gripping movie. Bravo.