Review: Shutter Island (2010)

Shutter Island

Rating

Director

Martin Scorsese

Screenplay

Laeta Kalogridis (Novel: Dennis Lehane)

Length

2h 18m

Starring

Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Max von Sydow, Michelle Williams, Emily Mortimer, Patricia Clarkson, Jackie Earle Haley, Ted Levine, John Carroll Lynch, Elias Koteas, Robin Bartlett, Christopher Denham

MPAA Rating

Review

Working outside his comfort zone, Martin Scorsese has made some fascinating genre films with Shutter Island being one of his best.

Leonardo DiCaprio plays a federal Marshal investigating a disappearance at an asylum. There, he attempts to uncover a dark mystery that suggests the facility is conducting vicious experiments on its patients. Mark Ruffalo co-stars as his partner, Ben Kingsley and Max Von Sydow are psychiatrists, Michelle Williams is his wife, and Emily Mortimer, Patricia Clarkson, and Jackie Earle Haley play inmates.

The labyrinthine narrative is woven seamlessly together by screenwriter Laeta Kalogridis from Dennis Lahane’s novel of the same name. Is DiCaprio’s Teddy an actual marshal or is he a patient? Is he being coerced or drugged by its proprietors? The film’s conclusion doesn’t entirely satisfy our curiosity but winds down in a compelling and engaging way. DiCaprio is solid as usual but it’s Ruffalo, Kingsley, von Sydow, Williams, Clarkson, and Haley that help the film come alive with their electric performances. No one is as they appear, at least not that the audience wants to believe.

Scorsese made a name for himself with dense crime dramas and compelling character studies and while Shutter Island would not fit into the former genre, it is definitely the latter. Embracing chilling psychological elements and periodic horror motifs, Scorsese guides the story along effectively, the atmospheric storytelling, compelling visual effects, and narrative inventiveness make for an engaging mystery that convinces you at least a dozen times that you know what’s going on, but only once are you actually right, making for an fascinating conclusion.

DiCaprio proved one of the reasons why he has been a frequent collaborator and muse for the GoodFellas director. His fracturing psyche and vacillating certitude are presented effortlessly, acting as an anchor for the audience’s varied expectations. Without his central performance, the film would collapse under its own weight. Paired together, DiCaprio and Scorsese make a terrific combo.

For many, Scorsese is a master among filmmakers and for much of his early career, that was demonstrably true. Unfortunately, in the wake of his Oscar-nominated GoodFellas, he’s struggled to find material that is unique, engaging, and which allows him to stretch his talents. Films like The Aviator, Hugo, and Shutter Island showed that he was able to master genres other than his go-tos while his later efforts like The Departed were comparatively weaker than these original efforts.

It’s more interesting to watch great filmmakers try their hands at new genres and succeed. Shutter Island gives us the best opportunity to see Scorsese work in a horror/psychological thriller milieu and enjoy himself crafting an intriguing story that tests his capabilities and showcases them beautifully.