uneven, sappy, kinda shallow, but looks good

Rating: 7/10 (21 February 2010)

This is a very uneven movie: It has a sappy story, and is drawn-out in the telling, and it has sensationalist references to Nazis and the Holocaust; but these references can't be taken too seriously and thus seem exploitative, even though they are possibly important in understanding the main character. But there are some brilliant surrealist scenes and shots in SHUTTER ISLAND. The use of colour was very effective and involving.
I'd read the book, so the suspense wasn't as great; the friend I saw it with, who had not read the book, liked the movie better than I did, and thought it was deeper than I did. The acting was good, particularly by Mark Ruffalo, and by actors who have only one scene, among them Patricia Clarkson, Elias Koteas.