Enterntaining Film with Enormous Plot Holes.

Rating: 8/10 (7 April 2010)

Shutter Island is one of those thrillers that can really only go one of two ways. The first option is the "he/she's gone crazy option". The main character is dreaming, on drugs, insane or dead and no one can seem to help him or her recover from their unfortunate condition. A Beautiful Mind or The Sixth Sense are prime examples of these types of films.
The other option is the massive conspiracy option where the character is being heartlessly manipulated by numerous people in some sort of cruel diversion required for him to truly appreciate his charmed existence. Movies like The Game or The Forgotten played that angle to ridiculous extremes. Shutter Island tries to have the best of both options and still manage to come off as a credible movie.
Don't get me wrong. It's an entertaining movie with a great performance from one of the best directors and best actors of this generation. Leonardo and Martin can help create an engaging movie, however it doesn't change the fact that the main characters in this movie have to jump through incredible holes in the plot to get to the truth.
The audience has believe that a in facility full of nurses, doctors and policemen that all these "protect and serve" types are just going to let a delusional person run around the compound and try to figure out his true existence. We have to suspend all belief in reality in order to serve the needs of one troubled character. No one will try and help him? No one will try to stop a possible criminal from roaming around the complex questioning everyone he sees. This seems a bit much to ask of people who work at this facility, even trained professionals.
Would they really risk endangering all the people who live near or on this facility to be exposed to a possibly dangerous or deranged individual? It doesn't seem very likely especially in an era where anyone who acted different than the mainstream population: Communists, educated African-Americans, gays and Rock 'n' Roll stars were all cause for alarm in 1950s American society.
I the movie's acting, cinematography and direction were top-notch (except for forgettable Mark Ruffalo as Leonardo's buddy). It was just to hard to ignore the gaping holes in the plot.