Shutter Island

Martin Scorsese's Shutter Island (2010) is probably the best film I've seen in theaters since Slumdog Millionaire (which admittedly isn't saying a whole lot). It's a mature thriller that mixes a straightforward mystery with a phantasmagoric horror film, creating an engrossing, disturbing cinematic experience. The twist (which surely everyone knows by now) isn't a problem per se - the way it's handled, however, is the film's one major flaw.

1954. A pair of US Marshals - hard-bitten, guilt-ridden Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) and affable Chuck Auele (Mark Ruffalo) - arrive on the titular island to visit Ashecliffe Mental Institution, a hospital for the criminally insane. Seems that a female prisoner (Emily Mortimer) broke out of jail, seemingly vanishing into thin air. Teddy immediately clashes with the too-nice Doctor Cawley (Ben Kingsley), who believes in engaging patients rather than putting them away - and who seems to be hiding something. The Marshals are trapped on the island by a storm, and Teddy comes to think that he and his partner are being set up - especially when word of a 67th inmate leaks out.

Shutter Island could easily have been a mess, but Scorsese deftly navigates the waters of its treacherous plot. The nightmarish dreams and are perfectly integrated into the main plot, a well-done paranoid police procedural. The movie plays up sinister expectations - the ex-Nazi Doctor (Max Von Sydow), mentions of HUAC and the Cold War - wonderfully, so we're almost let down when they're deflated. The contrast to the Holocaust is disturbing, moreso if we know about Operation Paper Clip and the MKULTRA program; the paranoid fantasies of the inmates have a palpable basis in reality. Teddy's apparent moral stand against these experiments, mixed with revenge, creates a wonderfully complex protagonist, and the film's palpable atmosphere of dread and quick pacing helps as well.

If there's a complaint about the film, it's the final 15 minutes or so. The twist itself is reasonable, if not overly original, and it does a fine job of frustrating plot expectations. However, after the secret is revealed, we're treated to an overlong explanatory scene, which seems like a retread of Hitchcock's expository excesses (Psycho, anyone?). Quite frankly, I would have preferred ambiguity to this deadeningly literal denouement. There may be more than meets the eye to the final scene, but the ship has already sailed by that point.

Scorsese eschews his usual quick-cutting, hard-hitting directoral style for a more measured approach. Scorsese does allow himself moments of showmanship - the gothic nightmare scenes, the storm sequence, the execution of Nazi guards at Dachau - but his direction is mostly focused, intense and gripping, allowing the images to speak for themselves. Robert Richardson's cinematography is alternately sweeping and claustrophobic, and there's a fine use of instrumental music, particularly tracks by John Adams, Gustav Mahler and John Cage.

Leonardo DiCaprio nails a difficult role. Shaky accent aside, DiCaprio is completely convincing as the haunted, hard-bitten Teddy, making his later scenes particularly poignant. Ben Kingsley (Gandhi) gives his best performance in years; it's nice to see him in something other than an Uwe Boll film. Max Von Sydow (Conan the Barbarian) shines in a small part. The supporting cast is excellent: Mark Ruffalo (Zodiac), Michelle Williams (Brokeback Mountain), Jackie Earle Haley (Watchmen), Patricia Clarkson (The Untouchables), John Carroll Lynch (Gran Torino), Ted Levine (Silence of the Lambs), Elias Koteas (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button).

I can't quite give Shutter Island a "Great Movies" rating because of the ending, but everything else about it is near-perfect.