Movie Monday: Shutter Island

I'll tell you what movie won't be winning any Oscars come this time next year: Shutter Island.  I caught the new Scorsese flick on Friday, having arrived to the theater too late for the film I intended to see (Alice in Wonderland).  It was the first movie I thought about walking out of since Pirates of the Caribbean 3.

I'm still struggling to figure out how Scorsese could mess this up.  He is an awesome director.  The actors including Leonardo DiCaprio, Ben Kingsley, and Mark Ruffalo, who are also awesome.  The previews implied suspense, mystery, and a cool setting of an isolated mental hospital for violent criminals.  Throw that mix of things together and you should get something at least moderately entertaining.  At the end of the day I can only point blame at the script, because it was so ridiculous that it was beyond saving.

DiCaprio plays U.S. marshal Teddy Daniels who, along with new partner Chuck Aule (Ruffalo), is assigned to investigate the escape of a violent patient at Shutter Island's Ashecliffe Hospital.  The head doctor (Kingsley) isn't very helpful and you get the feeling that some shady stuff might be happening at Shutter Island.  Daniels isn't getting anywhere with the investigation, but he can't leave the island because of a hurricane.  Daniels is trapped in crazy land and at this point things are starting to get really weird.  More prisoners escape.  Daniels keeps having weird dreams involving WWII and his dead wife.  Conspiracy theories involving medical experiments and communists abound.  And Daniels admits odd personal motives for taking the Shutter Island case. 

If that sounds at all suspenseful, I assure you that it was not.  It was a haphazard combination of clues that weren't adding up and, more importantly, weren't that interesting.  Just as I was begging for the movie to be over and kicking myself for not walking out an hour ago before things got to this level of stupidity, there was a huge twist that (and I didn't think it was possible until it happened) made the plot even more ridiculous and less entertaining.  In other words, Scorsese tried to pull off Fight Club and ended up with A Perfect Getaway instead.

Verdict: On a scale of one to bad, Shutter Island is very, very bad.  Barely two stars.

Comments

[Christine Sanders]

can't wait to see it. i've heard nothing but good things!

[Shutter Island Quotes]

I can not wait fro this movie. It is crime and thriller movie. I just saw the trailers of it. I wish this film will not disappoint me.

[acexspades13]

a lot of people who havent read the book say taht it was a bad movie. But if you're one of the poeple like me who did read the book, this movie was AMAZING, almost spot-on, and only a few small things were cut out. Read the book first and maybe your opinion will change. :)