Highly enjoyable psychological thriller

Rating: 9/10 (1 March 2010)

I went to see this film not knowing what exactly to expect other than a 2+ hour goose-chase Leo and his partner have to endure. Without spoiling anything, what I saw was a completely different film which caught me off guard and completely obscured my perspective of what I expected from the film. Instead, it opened my eyes, took me to the edge of my seat, and got me thinking about what was REALLY going on in Shutter Island.
While the film doesn't exactly start off strong, it slowly picks itself off the floor and carries you to the very edge of your seat up until the last minute of the film. The true premise behind the film plays out very strong and it's fortunate that the great premise is also backed up by great actors who play their roles splendidly. It really shows that these film-makers and actors put skills and heart towards making this a highly enjoyable and highly intelligent psychological thriller.
I felt that the only weak point in the film was the music. While the score definitely had some great atmospheric pieces orchestrated to perfection, it also had a loud and persistent cello note played almost to the rhythm to that of the Jaws theme. This note was played throughout the film. While it was a bit tedious, it didn't take away from the original tension built from the film's gloomy and suspenseful atmosphere, so it was easily forgiving.
Fortunately, the minor score issue is the only thing that I could possibly find wrong about this film. Almost every other aspect of this film presents itself professionally and creatively. While it is certainly not a solid 10 in my book, I still gave this film a 9 because it's a highly enjoyable film if you simply learn to keep your eyes peeled and your ears open. With the exception of minor setbacks, the good(s) definitely outweigh the bad(s) and I would definitely recommend this film to anyone who is looking for that breath of fresh air from intelligent psychological thrillers.