Leonardo shines!

Rating: 9/10 (24 March 2011)

This is Leo's best performance on the year. I didn't see this movie when it came out but I saw Inception. I loved Inception and although, I thought he was tremendous in the film, he is far better here.
Shutter Island takes you on a tale of two Federal Marshals who visit a Shutter Island because a woman escapes the mental institute. Chuck (Mark Ruffalo) and Teddy (Leonardo DiCaprio) go to investigate the area for the missing person.
However, this movie plays a lot like A Beautiful Mind where a lot weird things start to happen and we as an audience and the main character start to believe this given world as ludicrous as it seems. Well, that's the genius in the movie, really. All these things happen and we believe them and in the climax of the film, they are all brought to us in a big connecting answer and we take that at face value too. It's the brilliance of the screen writing that does it.
But, I'm not going to miss on giving credit where it's due. Ben Kingsley plays a prominent role in being the reliable source for the movie as the doctor on Shutter Island. He provides a good grounding for the film and he is the main audience character. Michelle Williams, although I've only seen her in Dawson's Creek, does a good job of making us ask during every scene she is in: "what is going on?" Perhaps in his best role to date, Leonardo shines at all times. He plays the lead role and is mesmerizing from start to finish, and especially in the climax of the film, he truly seems like he is the character and not just simply acting.
My only flaw with this film was the slow pacing of the first 25 minutes or so. It takes quite a bit for the two main leads to tell the audience why they are really there on Shutter Island. I was questioning what the movie was really about up to that point. Once it was said, the movie took off at a faster pacing and it didn't let up.
It's definitely a disturbing film without being filled with gore like Saw, or profanity, or themes or scares like Nightmare on Elm Street, but it's disturbing in the sense that this gets under your skin. It eats at you and if you watch this at night in darkness, I guarantee you'll turn on all the lights afterward. It's one of those movies that you just feel the need to relax your mind after it is over.
I'm happy I finally watched the movie because it is truly one of the best on the year. It was a great psychological thriller (without needing the thrilling aspect) and I'm glad that Martin and Leo collaborated again and I can't wait to see the next film of theirs. Leonardo is quickly becoming my favourite actor. He's getting better and better; he's like a fine wine.