BECK AT THE MOVIES: 'Shutter Island'
Scorsese's Latest Turns on It's Head Throughout Keeping Viewers Engrossed
Reviewed By Jeff Beck
Special to Huntingtonnews.net
Richmond, VA (HNN) -- After finally winning a Best Director Oscar back in 2007 (it only took about 30 years...), Martin Scorsese returns to the thriller genre which he hasn't done since "Cape Fear." Most known for his mafia films like "Goodfellas" and "The Departed," it's refreshing to see such a famed director try something different once in a while, and with "Shutter Island," he doesn't disappoint.
Set in 1954, Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo) are US Marshals who have come to Ashecliffe (aka Shutter Island), a hospital for the criminally insane, in order to investigate the disappearance of one of the patients there. Dr. Cawley (Ben Kingsley), the doctor in charge, explains to them that it would be quite difficult to get out without someone seeing her, and it's as if she "evaporated through the walls." It's not as though there's any way she could have gotten far, seeing as how the institution is located on an island, most of which is surrounded by rock.
Strange occurrences begin to pop up: a piece of paper asking "who is 67?," a patient writing the word "run" in Teddy's notebook, Dr. Cawley's reluctance to give up any files on the staff or patients. Teddy's quest to find the missing patient leads him on a journey around the small island as small pieces of the puzzle are unfolded. There is certainly more going on at Ashecliffe than people are revealing.
What makes Scorsese's latest venture work so well is the way that it's structured. It begins with the initial plot of there being a missing patient that no one can find any race of, but is that really what's going on here? About half way through, the film turns itself on its head and tells you it's about something completely different, but it's not through yet. By the end, it will have turned in a whole new direction.
While the film sets our mind churning at what the answer could possibly be, it gives us small pieces of background about the lead character, Teddy Daniels. Prior to becoming a US Marshal, he was in World War II in which he helped liberate a concentration camp. This is certainly something he never forgot, but what does it have to do with the rest of the story? It's merely another piece.
Another piece comes in the form of a man named Andrew Laeddis (Elias Koteas). He had set fire to the apartment building that Teddy and his wife had lived in, causing her death. The investigation leads Teddy to Ashecliffe where, according to a source, some weird things have been going on. Not to mention the source of funding for the island coming from HUAC (House Un-American Activities Committee). It is this kind of labyrinthine structure that makes the film particularly thrilling.
Where the film could have used some work was in its last 15 minutes or so. The big reveal here felt a little weaker than it should have due to the staging of the scene. Here we have everything coming to a head, and what we get are some of the characters standing there and explaining it to us. It could have used a little more flare when bringing about the emotional impact that this scene is intended to have. Luckily, most of that emotional impact is still there because of the strong plot twist.
Another small problem came with the way the ending was dragged out a little too long. The big reveal is unveiled, then it spends a good ten minutes hammering it in until one final important scene. It could have stood to be cut down a bit so that the emotional impact would be greater, instead of allowing it to dissipate as the pivotal ending scene keeps going and going. But as I said, the impact is still there, and is capped off rather nicely with a flashback.
DiCaprio plays this one pretty straightforward. He's a marshal on a mission who truly wants to find out what happened to this patient, but who also wants to uncover the mysteries of Shutter Island. We are also treated to performances from some well-known actors who don't get a lot of screentime including Max von Sydow as another doctor, Jackie Earle Haley as a patient, Patricia Clarkson, and Emily Mortimer.
This may not be a masterpiece like "Goodfellas," but it is one that will stick in your head because of the strange journey it takes you on and a somewhat ambiguous ending. Its mysteries will pull you in several different directions before it's over. Who better to be pulling you in those different directions than one of the great masters of cinema? 3.5/4 stars.