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Either movies are getting too predictable, or I'm too smart for my own good. Since I doubt the latter is the problem, I can only assume Hollywood has recycled plots and last-act twists so much that nothing can be truly surprising for the seasoned viewer.

Shutter Island—director Martin Scorsese's first return to drama since 2006's The Departed—tells the story of U.S. Marshall Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio). Daniels is brought in to investigate the disappearance of a patient at Shutter Island's Ashecliffe Hospital for the Criminally Insane, an inescapable Alcatraz-like prison hospital for the psychologically disturbed violent criminals. In his search for the missing patient, Daniels begins to uncover a conspiracy about what the doctors are doing on the island and seeks out the man responsible for his wife's death, who may be somewhere on Shutter Island.

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It's a bit of a departure from the gangster stuff Scorsese is best known for, but the master of mafia movies manages to handle the psychological thriller genre fairly well. Gone is the typical and often annoying voice-over narration (e.g. Joe Pesci in Casino) but remaining are two minor things that always stand out as signature Scorsese moves to me: characters with a fear of bright light (though there are no flashbulbs this time) and scenes where blaring music abruptly cuts off. An awesome and often eerie score pairs wonderfully with Daniels' vivid flashbacks and hallucinations, and the movie is easy on the eyes—save for a couple scenes with subpar green screen backdrops.
 DiCaprio is as apt an actor as ever and Ben Kingsley and Max von Sydow are devilishly good as two of the head physicians at Ashecliffe.

If you don't already a theory from the previews, within a few minutes into Shutter Island, you're bound to have some ideas about what is or isn't really going on. But things go back and forth with red herrings abound, leading to a titallating cinematic cup game where we're never 100% sure under which hand the truth about Shutter Island really lies. 

This leads to my main gripe about Shutter Island. When it was all laid out in front of me, I couldn't help but feel cheated by the film. Despite wishful thinking that this would be Scorsese channeling Hitchcock, Shutter Islandis more like Scorcese playing Shyamalan. Like so many of The Sixth Sense's director's twist-ridden films,Shutter Island suffers most from its desire to pull a fast one on the viewer rather than tying together the loose ends in a more satisfying way.

Thinking back on the movie afterward, there are some things that make me think the movie could warrant a second viewing. I'm sure it all lines up, but when the conclusion feels so unsatisfying, what's the point in sitting through the whole damned thing again? You'll definitely be left with some intriguing things to discuss after the film's final lines--the conclusion just won't be one of them.

If thrillers are your thing, don't pass on Shutter Island; just don't set your expectations too high. 

—Eric Pulsifer
 


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