one of Scorsese's best

Rating: 10/10 (17 February 2010)

I read the novel so I knew the story going in, and I still got chills in several places and really was moved at how incredibly good this movie is. I won't get into the plot, because that could spoil things, but Leonardo DiCaprio investigates a missing patient/inmate in a top-secret island fortress for the criminally insane. He keeps getting frustrated as his interviews with doctors and patients raise more questions than answers. Ben Kingsley, who plays the primary doctor on the island, deserves a Supporting Actor Oscar nomination, and we will see how far the rest of the cast and movie will go into next year's awards.
The best comparisons for me were the Shining, for the psychological horror aspects of both movies. And a little bit of Silence of the Lambs, when the hero goes into a row of cells to talk with one of the inmates/patients. DiCaprio is good, but not up to the level of a younger Jack Nicholson, who would have been absolutely brilliant in this part when he was in his mid-thirties.
I am not sure if someone who hasn't read the book will be confused by some of the story... or simply be blown away at how it unfolds.
I have seen all of Martin Scorsese's movies and this is one of his top 5 or 6, better than Cape Fear, Aviator and the Departed but a hair below Goodfellas, Raging Bull, and Taxi Driver.
This is a very scary movie, the truest horror film Scorsese has ever done. I can't recommend it to my wife or otherwise squeamish viewers, there are too many terrifying moments for them to enjoy it.
What a great movie, I will surely see it again in the theaters. Haven't seen one twice since the Hurt Locker, and before that one it's been 10 years.