[to the point movie reviews]

Tonights review, Shutter Island directed by Martin Scorsese written by Laeta Kalogridis and based on the book on the same name by Dennis Lehane. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, and  Michelle Williams.

*due too some problems with the projector at the theater and my mother being late, I missed the first 5 minutes of the film. Also, I have never read the book*

The year is 1954 and U.S. Marshal Andrew “Teddy” Daniels and his partner Chuck Aule sail too an Alcatraz like hospital for the criminally insane on  Shutter Island off the coast of… somewhere…. called Ashecliff to investigate the disappearance of a patient named Rachel Solando.  Dr. John Crawley explains that she was placed in the mental facility after she drowned her three children. During the search, Teddy points out the caves in the cliff of the island but the deputy warden claims that Solando could never reach them. Teddy also sees a lighthouse and the deputy says that it has been searched. Teddy and Aule ask Crawley for the files on Solando’s attending doctor, Dr. Sheehan but he refuses and says that Sheehan has left the island on vacation just the day before. Later that night, Teddy is plagued by strange dreams about his dead wife. She tells him that Solando is still on the island and that the man who had started the fire that killed her – Andrew Laeddis – is also on the island. Later on, after interrogating all the patients, and receiving a cryptic not telling him to “run”, He explains to Aule why he took the case: to find Andrew Laeddis. Teddy tells Aule that he found a man who “escaped” from the island and told him that they were conducting experiments. When a hurricane hits, it leaves fallen trees and debris all over and knocks out the poswer so that the prisoners are running amok. Teddy, imitating a orderly, meets the man he told Aule about (George Noyce) who had warned him of the experiments, who tells him that this whole place was made for the benefit of him (Teddy) and that he’s afraid of the lighthouse. Teddy attempts to go to the light house, and fails, but his trip back appears more fruitful then he imagines….

Whoa. It was dark, twisty, and great. It was worth the 7 dollars I played and because of the projection screw up, I received a free ticket which is pretty cool. Back on the movie. I enjoyed it, but it isn’t for the faint of heart. Several scenes will scar(e) some viewers. I loved the atmosphere of this movie a lot. I also loved how it was pulled off more of a mystery until the middle part when things go bananas. The cinematography is what hooked it for me. I know some people will not like it, but it’s my kinda thing. The slow moving off-ness was great.  DiCaprio was a amazing actor. Probably the best I’ve seen this year, and when I say this year I mean out of the 4-5 movies I have seen this year. The sound track was obscenely haunting and slightly out of place because it was all previously recorded material from classical musicians. Now, the thing about this movie you should know is there is no twist. Nothing you wouldn’t expect from a movie like this at least. Don’t go in with that on your mind. Go in with greatness in mind. Because it is… greatness…

-james