Solid Suspense from Scorsese

Rating: 9/10 (3 November 2010)

Whenever the topic of the best movies of 2010 is brought up, I nearly always forget to mention Martin Scorsese's powerful psychological from February. It's moody, it's atmospheric, and it's carried by a fantastic cast. The story is set in 1954, and U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) has been assigned to investigate an inmate's disappearance at the isolated criminal asylum on Shutter Island. No one saw her escape and her room remained locked...it was as if she'd "evaporated straight through the walls". Based on the novel by Dennis Lehane, screenwriter Laeta Kalogridis has done an awesome job weaving a suspenseful story that drops enough hints to keep you drawn in until the big reveal at the end of the film.
If you can, try to avoid spoilers before seeing this movie. I had the misfortune of having the end ruined for me before I had a chance to see it and it killed a lot of the suspense. I was still entertained but I didn't have as much to look forward to at the end. Despite my pre-existing knowledge of the climax, it was still fun to watch and see how the writer and director managed to weave hints into the story. It's a great twist on the ending but I admit that I still don't grasp how feasible such an ending actually was. Without going into spoiler details here, I'll merely say that I'm still questioning how some of certain aspects of the big "reveal" worked.
2010 was definitely the year of DiCaprio, with powerhouse roles here and in Christopher Nolan's INCEPTION. The man knows how to pick the right projects and continues to impress me with his work. He is supported with great work from Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Jackie Earl Haley, and Max von Sydow. I really no few complaints with the film, with the exception of the "what-ifs" left behind with the twist ending and the music's occasional habit of swelling up a bit louder than necessary and drowning out dialogue (particularly in the opening arrival sequence).