There are some interesting visuals and good performances but DiCaprio was not the right fit for this role

Rating: 5/10 (23 February 2010)

Aboard a ship in the 1950's, a Federal Marshal named Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his new partner Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo) are heading towards Ashecliffe Hospital, a mental institution on Shutter Island. Ashecliffe holds some of the most criminally insane patients and it is reluctance then that Teddy must had over his pistol before entering. Teddy holds little remorse for the inmates. He is haunted by the memories of his wife Dolores (Michelle Williams) who was killed by a firebug. When they reach the mainland, Teddy and Chuck are briefed by the ambiguous Dr. Cawley (Ben Kingsley), who describes how a murderer named Rachel Salon escaped from her cell and has now gone missing. Beyond this disappearance though, Teddy suspects that there is something far more sinister occurring on the island and seeks to find evidence of it. He also suspects that the other doctor on the island, Dr. Naehring (Max von Sydow), might be a former Nazi.
The novel Shutter Island was written by Dennis Learne, who's other works Mystic River and Gone Baby Gone, were turned into immensely successful films. With the appraisal of these adaptations, along with a director as talented and as experienced as Martin Scorsese, the expectations for this film have been justifiably high. To the credit of Scorsese, his cinematographer Robert Richardson and regular film editor Themla Schoomaker, the film is stylishly constructed, with images that are haunting and other scenes that are just beautiful in their simplicity. The first vision of the island in its entirety is actually quite magnificent to behold. Yet through the fault of either Learne's novel or the script written by Laeta Kalogridis, this is overall a rather obvious and disappointing film, which does not stand up to scrutiny. At the beginning on board the boat, Teddy states to Chuck that he is his new partner and then begins to explain how his wife died in the fire. It is a rather odd start that so thickly describes what is happening. If the expository dialogue was limited to just this scene it would remain a minor fault. However, the film is so heavily laden with lines of dialogue that telegraph what is to come that the surprises and power of some of the biggest revelations are diminished. The writing is set well on and truly on the wall at the end, or more specifically Dr. Cawley's whiteboard, when everything is so neatly explained. There are more obscure dream sequences that distract and make one question what is going on but regardless, the twist is largely foreseeable and makes little sense in relation to the rest of the film. People will discuss this film for its own implausibility, rather than for a mature examination of mental illness.
Frustratingly, the lack of subtlety extends from the dialogue, to the tone of the film and some of the performances as well. Shutter Island is a film so intent in submitting itself as horrific that it becomes outright tiring, instead of emotionally affecting. The film's overbearing, thunderous music score, foggy skies and iron gates, suggests doom and damnation in every way that has been seen before. The representation of mental patients is not a sympathetic one either, with some of them, such as skeletal woman with most of her hair missing and a man with a scar halfway across his face, looking like leftover peasants from a Zorro film. It is not particularly unnerving or scary, just a sensationalised representation and DiCaprio's performance is another example of this. There is no shortage of effort in his fourth reunion with Scorsese. Yet DiCaprio becomes almost exhausting as Teddy, relying on such an overzealous personality to carry the film. There is a possible explanation for this, but along with his lack of compassion in the film, it does not make him particularly likable or sympathetic. DiCaprio's weakness as an actor is that he has not physically matured enough to be able to immerse himself into any role, like Sean Penn or Philip Seymour Hoffman and the brief flashbacks to Teddy's army days in particular, highlight this. He looks quite out of place in some sequences. Ruffalo is thankfully more contained in his role and Kingsley is formal and proper, but also deceptive and ambiguous. It is a shame then that despite running at over two hours there is not a great deal of time dedicated to coming to know some of the characters more thoroughly.
There is little doubt that both Martin Scorsese and DiCaprio will continue to make stronger films than Shutter Island. This picture suffers because of some poorly written dialogue and too many obvious hints. The subject matter could have been so interesting and contextual to the period but it is handled in such an unsubtle and obvious manner that the film just isn't as tense or as affecting as it should be. There are some interesting visuals and good performances but DiCaprio was not the right fit for this role. One must hope that if he chooses to partner with Scorsese for a fifth time, the role will be suitable rather than compulsory.