Set during the 1950s, US Marshall Teddy Daniels and his new partner, Chuck, travel to the remote Shutter Island somewhere in Boston Harbor to investigate the disappearance of one of the patients from a hospital for the criminally insane. From the very instance Teddy sets foot on the island, the doctors running the institution seem out to get him. Little do they know that Teddy is more concerned with a rumored conspiracy and taking vengeance on an inmate who's crime caused a traumatic event in Teddy's past.
Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio seem to have found their niche, depicting a relatable and empathetic leading man who spirals into instability. It started with The Aviator, fine tuned in The Departed, and has come to fruition in Shutter Island. This is easily one of DiCaprio's finer roles. The level of distraught and stress he carries with him throughout the series of events adds so much more tension than any other element of the story.
Like a lot of movies now a days, there seems to be a growing use of great actors in small supporting roles who leave you wanting more: Patricia Clarkson, Ted Levine, Max Von Sydow, and Elias Koteas participate admirably. It is amazing to me the Jackie Earle Haley was not getting consistent work before Little Children, or that he has been tapped only to play wackos and perverts. He does more with his one scene than any of the other actors in the movie do.
The score is underwhelming. It resembles classic thriller music, hard hitting notes and lots of bass tones. Unfortunately, it seems shoe-horned into the film. It always seems out of place and ultimately distracting. It never synced up to the plot or provide any hits or beats. The theme in Jaws was a warning and built tension as it neared its completion accentuating the scare even though you knew it was coming. This does the opposite. There is no happy ending when the score ends. I also found that the score ends unexpectingly sometimes. I noticed the same thing in The Departed where the rock track list just seemed to end.
The plot ending has roots in the cliche and many suspected it from the very beginning. Yet somehow it still feels somewhat fresh. When it comes to these types of movies and these types of endings, it is usually in the details and how they fit together looking back over the film that makes or breaks how plot is received. I suspect that this film will be much better over a second viewing.
6/10 This may be one of DiCaprio's best, but it is not Scorsese's.
I think the beauty of the entire movie is you don’t know how to feel and you don’t know which to believe. You are very much in the mind of Leo’s character. Paranoid and stuck between two different things that both could very much be true. I called it very early on. The fact that it didn’t show him anywhere else but the Ferry and the Island. He has experienced Trauma. The Doctor said he does experimental procedures. Patients seemed coached. Just met his partner. And there wasn’t much to the movie unless he was crazy. Frankly, practically from the beginning I just felt that’s the only way it could have been.
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