Jennifer Fallon - the Official Site

Martin Scorsese's latest outing is the mystery thriller Shutter Island, set in 1954. After the death of his wife (Michelle Williams) in a fire, U.S. marshal Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio), requests the assignment to investigate the disappearance of a patient from Boston's Shutter Island, where the Ashecliffe Hospital for the criminally insane is housed. Once he reaches the island with his partner Chuck (Mark Ruffalo), he is frustrated in his investigation by the psychiatrists (Ben Kingsley and Max von Sydow) running the place. He soon begins to suspect the US Government is sanctioning experiments on mental patients on Shutter Island using techniques pioneered by the Nazi's, based in part on his own experiences when he helped liberate Dachau during World War II. When a hurricane cuts the island off from the mainland and any chance of escape, Teddy is forced to open some old wounds to get to the truth, which is something he really isn't prepared to face.

Based on Dennis Lehane's novel, Shutter Island is a terse thriller that spends much of its time in flashbacks, that seem irrelevant until you get near the end of the film. The acting, as one would expect from any Scorsese-helmed film, is excellent. The cast is impressive, even among the minor players, which includes Patricia Clarkson as a psychiatrist, and an excellent Jackie Earle Hailey as George Noyce, an inmate whose recollections of events are the key to Teddy working out what is going on.

It is on this point, however, that the film unravelled a bit for me. This is a story with a twist, so I don't want to say too much, but the observant among you will begin to work out what it is, about two-thirds of the way into the story. You see, my problem is that at no time does our hero work it out. He learns the truth, of course, but someone has to explain it to him. I felt this lessened the impact of the ending, which would have been far more powerful, in my opinion, if Teddy had come to the truth himself.

Having said that, it's probably the only fault I can find with this film. It is scary, tense and very well acted and, unless you're especially fussy like me, won't find much to complain about.