Martin Scorsese’s adaptation of the Dennis Lehane novel Shutter Island is a successful mystery thriller with a great lead turn by Leonardo DiCaprio and a plot that brings some originality to a potentially tired idea.
DiCaprio plays Teddy Daniels, a U.S. Marshall sent to Shutter Island to investigate the disappearance of one of the inmates at a psychiatric hospital for the criminally insane. He is paired up with a new partner, Chuck, fresh off a transfer from Seattle and the two figure out in a hurry that things aren’t quite right in the facility. The lead psychiatrists aren’t helpful or cooperative, the patient in questions escaped undetected, from a locked room, and did this all barefoot in a rough terrain grounds to escape too. Added to this, a hell of a storm sweeps in over the island and strands Chuck and Teddy there and Teddy decides to dig deeper into the islands secrets that he believes are being hid within the facilities walls.
Now, go into this film as much of a virgin as possible to the material if you can. Talking anymore about the picture would be a disservice to the twists and turns it takes and while it isn’t a wholly original idea there are enough surprises and nuance to the story the make itself its own. [Read more...]