Sunday, February 21, 2010

Shutter Island


I usually never see a first run Leonard DiCaprio film because for me I have a hard time believing him as an adult. However, Martin Scorsese seems to think he is a perfect actor to caste in anything so we just suffer long, hoping to be impressed.


In 'Shutter Island', DiCaprio is one of two US Marshals assigned to investigate a women who has disappeared from a mental institution (Shutter Island) with top level security. She was in for killing all three of her children. Right from the beginning the institutions give us weird vibes as do the two investigators.


As he approached the facility, Leo is having hallucinations and headaches which I feel will be significant in the future. He too has suffered a recent loose of his wife in a house fire.

Is he truly an investigator or a patient being brought in who has delusions of being an investigator? Has his nightmares from being a soldier in WWII finally broken him as well as the guilt he carries over the recent death of his wife. Baggage Baggage Baggage.

I found a huge part of this film to be boring and confusing right when the answers to the mystery should have been coming. Many characters arrive and leave with virtually no explanation as to why they are there. Very frustrating.

It's also weird to have these two investigators dressed as patients for most of the movie. I constantly expected them to be imprisoned with no one on the new shift change being told that they were not regular inmates.

Then they would get the full mental home experience at a time when such patients were not treated with the most humane of techniques.

More confusing characters arrive and leave and fill in parts of the mystery as the movie rolls along. Doctors are accused of being crazy when they ask too many questions about the strange experiments going on at Stutter Island.

With all the talent involved in this one I strangely hoped for me but felt left down at the end.

4 comments:

Bubbashelby said...

Good movie, and Leo was impressive.

TS Hendrik said...

Hmm, I'll still watch it, but it sounds disappointing. From your description it sounds like a big budget version of Attic Expeditions.

Cal's Canadian Cave of Coolness said...

I was let down and figured it would end the way it did. Never have I hoped to be more wrong watching a movie in my life. With all the talent involved I really expected more.

Jay said...

I liked it but [SPOILERS]

If you've seen Memento and A Beautiful Mind, then you've seen this movie. With a little David Lynch sprinkled in.