Shutter Island locks up 5 Red Vines for being my first Oscar pick of 2010!
It was a dark and stormy night at the asylum for the criminally insane. Okay if that grabbed you then you are going to love Martin Scorsese’ latest masterpiece “Shutter Island”.
It is apparent in every frame of the artistic horror mystery that Scorsese isn’t depending on a December release date to help propel “Shutter Island” to Oscar status. No, he is releasing his movie in February and setting the bar early for all Oscar hopefuls! Yes, this movie is that good!
Perennial Scorsese favorite, Leonardo DiCaprio continues to grow in maturity, turning in a stellar performance as a Federal agent sent to the mystery shrouded sanatorium for only the most dangerous criminally insane.. So dangerous that the facility is set on a heavily guarded and fenced remote island. Think Alcatraz for the crazy.
Along with his partner, DiCaprio is trying to solve the disappearance of a dangerous female who is doing time for murdering her three children. But it’s not just the inmates that provide the creeps. The staff is ominously sinister, too. And DiCaprio himself is haunted by his own past as a soldier who stormed a Nazi concentration camp and the loss of his wife once he returned to his civilian life. A nut job burned his building and DiCaprio’s wife died from smoke inhalation. Still traumatized, DiCaprio suffers from nightmares of his loss.
It isn’t long before past and present collide and DiCaprio is a paranoid mess, hard to distinguish from the inmates he is investigating. Guess what? You will be paranoid too as you begin to get the uneasy feeling that nothing and no one is as they seem. And first and foremost, no one can be trusted.
DiCaprio really shines but he is not alone. A stellar cast surrounds him at every turn down a dark hallway. Ben Kingsley does a wonderful job as the impossible to read Dr. Cawley. Michelle Williams is hauntingly beautiful and pathetic as DiCaprio’s ghost wife. And I was totally wowed to see none other than the iconic Max von Syndow playing the creepy German Dr. Naehring, who absolutely inspires fear and paranoia supreme! I loved seeing him on screen!
The imagery is a big star in this movie, rivaled only by the brooding atmosphere and crowned by perfect performances. It is a long movie at 2 hours and 20 minutes but you will be either sitting on the edge of your seat or like me curled into a fetus position the entire time and totally enraptured. In a month usually reserved for light weight and throw away fare, it is refreshing to see a real Oscar worthy contender! Bravo Mr. Scorsese and company!
LADIES ROOM LOWDOWN: The restroom was buzzing with excitement as women chatted about the movie. My companion had just finished the novel written by Dennis Lehane (Mystic River, Gone Baby Gone) the night before and was so anxious to see the movie, she was ready to burst. Well you know how movie adaptations go-never well. Except this time. My friend loved the movie. She said it was so much like the book that even some of the dialog was the same. And while the book so trippy she wasn’t sure what was real and what wasn’t, the movie helped clear the cobwebs to reveal the creepy truth.
A preview of this movie was provided to me by the studio but it in no way effects my unbiased review.
