Passenger 67

Rating: 8/10 (21 February 2010)

Ah, yet another collaboration between Scorsese and DiCaprio. You would think they were father and son, by now. But, is Shutter Island one of their best? Well, since I've never seen Gangs of New York (yet,) I can't honestly say. But, I will say it was much better than The Aviator and The Departed, despite the fact I'm certain to get backlash on that comment. (For the record, I thought Aviator and Departed were good, but I enjoyed Shutter much more.) Was it great? By no means, but it was interesting and visually stimulating. So much so, I do hope for a Best Cinematography Oscar nom next year. And though predictable – the ads gave away too much, but even without the trailers, you would still know who "number 67" is – it's still a fun ride through to the end.
Federal Marshall Daniels (DiCaprio) meets with fellow new-partner Aule (Ruffalo) on a boat, and what I saw as a spoof/joke against Titanic, Daniels is seasick and doesn't like boat rides. They land on "Shutter Island" to investigate the "magical" disappearance of inmate/patient/criminal Rachel, only Daniels has his own ulterior motives revealed throughout the film on accepting/requesting this particular assignment.
The movie plays out as a film noir mystery, set in the 1950s. Many of the sets, locales and moods are very 1950s in both setting and film-making. It's almost as if Scorsese acted out his Tarantino-like impulses and made homage to film noir past. And, believe it, it worked.
Though, again, the average moviegoer will see where there people fit into place in the "mystery," the movie didn't bog you down on the "big M. Night Shyamalan" secret. They had a serious detective story to show with believable acting, great scenery, buildings and dialogue.
My only problems with the film were minute. Easily 20-30 minutes could've been cut. Sure, a lot, if not most, scenes were necessary to advance the plot, yet a good majority of them were drawn completely out to the max. Also, most of the movie did not have a score, but when it did, it was too loud and overbearing – for example: the camera follows both Daniels and Aule, amongst others, into the asylum for the first time, and the score was so incredibly deafening, it was distracting. And finally, I have not seen this many flashbacks since ALL of the Saw films (combined) or as many nightmares as the Freddy Kruger films. No doubt they were integral to the plot, but, BOY, every few seconds you had to do a double take on what reality – nightmare, memory, foreshadow – you were witnessing.
That all said, I would still recommend this movie. Thankfully, Leo didn't overact (AS MUCH, that is) like he does in 90% of his movies. Most of his features, you can see him yearning to win an Oscar, much like what Denzel Washington does in the majority of his movies. He did a good job. All three other main characters, played by Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley and Max von Sydow, were not only believable, but did a great job.
I don't see this as a 100% repeat-viewer, but you should still see Shutter Island. At very least, take in the sights.