An excellent thriller

Rating: 9/10 (17 March 2010)

Martin Scorsese has proved time and again that he is one of the greatest film makers ever to have lived, with even his not so good film are still better then most of the films that come out. After winning his long awaited Oscar for The Departed Scorsese took his time before delivering us Shutter Island.
Set in 1954, U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his new partner Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo) are assigned a case to go to a mental institute on Shutter Island, off the coast of Boston. A patient, Rachel Solando (Emily Mortimer) had escaped from her cell and it's clear that there was no way she could have done it alone. Teddy starts to suffer dreams and flashbacks involving when he helped liberate a concentration camp in Germany, and messages from his dead wife Dolores (Michelle Williams), offering him guidance. Whilst investigating Teddy becomes paranoid, believing there is a wider conspiracy, with patients being coached, and that the leading psychiatrists Dr. Cawley (Ben Kingsley) and Dr. Naehring (Max von Sydow) were conducting experiments on the patients and that Teddy's arrival on the island was a trap. Teddy also plans to find the man who torched his apartment building where his wife died. He too was an inmate on the island.
Scorsese shows once again his skill behind the camera, giving the audience a stylist, neo-noir story with a very eerie atmosphere throughout. He keeps the mystery going in this fast paced film. He tells a very compelling thriller with good horror moments in what must have been a complex novel. It is stylist, but also has a lot of substance. He give justice to Laeta Kalogridis' screenplay.
Once again Scorsese turns to Leonardo DiCaprio for the lead role and DiCaprio gives one on his best performances, and a very mature performance as the guilt ridden officer. He has proved like Brad Pitt that he is more then just a pretty boy but also a very talented actor in a long career. Ben Kingsley has finally performed in film where he can give a more understated performance which he is better at. He offers a sly performance as the main antagonist of the film. Mark Ruffalo is an actor who has made his career in supporting roles, and again he does a good performance as Ted's main ally.
Despite all the positives to the film, everything did not add up and by about the two thirds of the way through I guessed the big twist. However, that does not diminish the quality of the film.
Shutter Island will easily make my Top 10 for 2010.