Federal detectives, a secluded mental-institution on an island, an escaped patient, strange doctors hiding the truth, this sounds like a cinematic work from the mind of Alfred Hitchcock. Well, yes and no. The new thriller Shutter Island certainly has that mysterious atmosphere that was present in many of his films, but the story is actually from a novel by Dennis Lehane, and was brought to the screen by one of today's Hitchcock equivalents of filmmaking genius, Martin Scorsese. This being his first psychological thriller since 1991's Cape Fear, Martin succeeds in bringing a sense of fear to the story he wants to tell. This time, Scorsese reunites with his frequent collaborator Leonardo DiCaprio, for a story of conspiracy and paranoia.
The story opens in 1954 with our two leads, U.S. Marshal Edward 'Teddy' Daniels (DiCaprio), a tough-as-nails detective from Boston, whose past is plagued with tragedy by the death of his wife (Michelle Williams), and is accompanied to the island by his new partner Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo). They are sent to the mysterious Ashcliff Hospital for the criminally insane on Shutter Island. The hospital shelters 66 inmates that are said to be there because it was impossible for them to be treated anywhere else. The head psychiatrist Dr. John Cawley, acted by Ben Kingsley with a disturbing blend of calm and creepiness, fills-in our two detectives of the escape of inmate Rachel Solando (Emily Mortimer), who has been placed in the institution for murdering her three children. As Teddy and Chuck begin their search for the woman it becomes clear that, as with all psychological thrillers, there is something much more going on in the background than our two detectives are aware of.
As Teddy and Chuck question patients and visit several sectors of the island looking for evidence, the audience is provided with snipets of Teddy's troubled past in the form of dream sequences and hallucinations. While his dreams do add significantly to the story in most cases, it gets to the point when some of them are a little too long, or slightly unnecessary. They are, however, disturbingly and beautifully realized. As the story progresses with the detectives exploring deeper into the island, the stunning aerial shots of the area help expand on the growing fear and isolation of the charatcers.
Patricia Clarkson shows up in the later half of the movie as an exiled escapee, and truly makes the most of her few minutes of screen time, offering a couple startling plot twists. And Max von Sydow is wonderfully frightening as an evil, Nazi-like psychiatrist. Clocking in at 2 hours and 18 minutes, the film tends to drag in the middle; but the big twist (or several twists) in the end make the movie worth sitting through, even though the plot revelations come at a somewhat overwhelming rate in the end. This being Martin Scorsese's second psychological thriller, Shutter Island is a daring break from his gangster epics, such as The Departed and Goodfellas. In the end, it's truly a mystery worth solving.
Final grade: B+
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