Not Scorsese's best...

Rating: 6/10 (19 February 2010)

I'm not sure exactly what is was about this film that didn't work for me—perhaps the fact that I've read the book and knew the "twist" at the end ruined it for me—but there was something about "Shutter Island" that never quite got up to speed. DiCaprio was solid, as always, Ben Kingsley did his usual classy, impressive job, the film looked great (some very Hitchcockian tones and textures), the music was good, and the script was well done. The flashback/fantasy sequences might have been somewhat over the top (Peter Jackson indulged himself in the same way in "The Lovely Bones"), and overall this movie was just not as good as the sum of its parts. Not Scorsese's best, but even that's better than the work of most directors.