Shut up! Shutter Island rules!

Rating: 9/10 (10 April 2010)

Welcome to my Punner Island where all your pun dreams can come true! Of course I am going to punhabit my review of Director Martin Scorsese's brilliant "Shutter Island" as I do to all of my reviews. "Shutter Island" is not associated with the documentary based on every time that Paris Hilton opens her mouth, that one is called "Shut-her Island". OK, I will focus on "Shutter Island" before you guys think I belong on "Shut-him Island". Leonardo Dicaprio, collaborating with Scorsese for the fourth time, stars as Teddy Daniels; a 1950's U.S. Marshall who travels to Shutter Island to investigate a case of a missing patient. The island is primarily comprised of a hospital for the criminally insane. Sounds crazy ha? OK, sorry. Moving right along Teddy's marshall partner is Chuck, played by the reliable Mark Ruffalo. Teddy was a soldier in World War II and played a big part in rescuing Holocaust victims in a Nazi concentration camp. He is a recent widower whose wife accidental death still haunts him as he keeps having hallucinations of her. In the hospital for the criminally insane, they are met by numerous peculiar characters who do not help Teddy & Chuck much with the investigation; and I am not primarily referring to the patients also. I really cannot indulge more in providing you plot lines of "Shutter Island" because that would have me institutionalized in the hospital for the spoilerly insane, they have that? It is not insane to state that Leonardo DiCaprio's masterful performance should garner him another Best Actor Oscar nomination. The supporting performances of the film were also sanely proficient. Besides Ruffalo's fine work, I was psyched with the stellar performances of legendary actors Ben Kingsley and Max Von Sydow as the hospital's primary psychiatrists, Kingsley playing the head mental honcho. The up-and-coming Emily Mortimer and the always stupendous Patricia Clarkson were scene-stealing in their brief performances as a couple of zany Rachel patients. Michelle Williams was not spectacular in her work as Teddy's deceased wife Dolores, but I would not say she was "dead in the water" also with her moderately commending performance. Kudos also goes out to veteran character actors John Carroll Lynch and Jackie Earle Haley for their powerful supporting work; Lynch playing a head guard and Haley playing a loony patient held at the hospital's "critical psyche condition" ward. The film's cinematography and art direction were vivid enough to also be called as Oscar nominees at next year's show. Laeta Kalogridis' twisting screenplay based on Dennis Lehane's novel made me "twist & shout" with literary pleasure. But who is crazy and daring enough to put all of this together- the one and only highbrow eyebrow maestro, Mr. Martin Scorsese. His daring direction of "Shutter Island" does not depart from the fact that Scorsese is still at the top of his game. So take that surreal cinematic voyage to the bizarre but worthwhile "Shutter Island". ***** Excellent