SHUTTER ISLAND MOVIE REVIEW
Martin Scorsese who has directed some of my favorite gangster movies of all time (Gangs of New York, Casino and Goodfellas) now tackles the latest mystery thriller Shutter Island. Shutter Island is based on the Dennis Lehane novel.
The movie starts with two U.S. Marshals: Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo) going to investigate a missing persons report at Shutter Island. Shutter Island contains a hospital for the criminally insane. As Teddy and Chuck begin their investigations it becomes obvious that many of the people at the hospital have been coached in their responses and that the Doctors in charge are not always telling the truth. Teddy while on the island is dealing with some of his own mental issues. Teddy has vivid dreams and flashbacks of the people he was not able to save when fighting in WW2 and the tragic death of his wife Dolores (Michelle Williams) who was burned in a fire at their apartment. As the secrets of the island and the details of Teddy’s past unfold, the story slowly comes together.
–The Good–
The movie was spectacularly shot. It did a great job of making the island creepy and conveying the 1950s look and feel. The flashbacks to the WW2 death camps are especially horrifying. As always with Scorsese the music was perfect and it did a great job of building suspense.
The whole movie was well-acted, especially by DiCaprio and Ben Kingsley who play Dr. Cawley, the head doctor at the hospital.
–The Bad–
The movie did tend to drag on a bit and towards the end of the movie I was ready for it to wrap up. Although the end of the movie was well done, I found it to be a bit predictable.
–Recommendation—
Overall I would say this would be a good movie to go see. The movie contains many layers and there is some subtle dialog that might take a while to sink in. I will watch this movie again sometime to catch any of the things I may have missed in the first viewing.
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