Flick Review: Shutter Island

By: Guthrie Roy Hartford

Posted: 3/1/10

Shutter Island is a dark, terrifying, and suspenseful thriller, that will leave you asking one question when all is said and done: "What has director, Martin Scorsese, done to corrupt my innocent mind?" This film is intelligently conceived as well as an excellent adaptation to the fictional novel by Denis Lehane, which I highly recommend.

The flick opens with a boat emerging from a thick fog and a subtitle at the bottom of the screen indicating that the year is 1954 and the location is our very own Boston Harbor. As the boat continues through the blinding fog, the audience is instantly introduced to the two main characters of the story: U.S. Marshals Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) and Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo). From their brief five minute conversation, we learn that they are meeting for the first time and both have been appointed to investigate a missing patient at the Ashecliffe Hospital for the criminally insane located on Shutter Island. The only way in and out of Shutter Island is by ferry.

As the ferry docks at this mysterious place, Teddy and Chuck unload and are greeted by one of the head guards. To properly obey protocol on this island, both U.S. Marshals are instructed to surrender all firearms. Soon after their friendly greeting at the gate, Teddy and Chuck are introduced to Dr. Cawley, the man in charge of this baffling fortress. Dr. Cawley gives them a concise history of Shutter Island before taking them to the cell of the missing patient that they initially came to investigate, Miss Rachel Solando. Rachel has supposedly disappeared without a trace. As Dr. Cawley puts it, "It's as if she evaporated, straight through the walls."

As Teddy and Chuck try and solve this bizarre case, an unrelenting and unexpected hurricane hits the island, forcing the two U.S. Marshals to stay at Ashecliffe Hospital longer than they anticipated. Strangely enough, after a few days, Rachel Solando is magically found by the orderlies of the hospital. As far as Teddy and Chuck are concerned, their work is officially done, but for some reason, they are forced to stay on the island to continually assimilate dark and shady situations. As days pass, Dr. Cawley and his fellow associates seem to become much more cryptic about what's really going on at Ashecliffe Hospital. Was the "missing" Rachel Solando simply a diversion to bring Teddy and Chuck here for something much deeper and darker than they imagined? How on earth are they going to get off of this island when it's surrounded by raging waters that have been created by a monstrous hurricane? Teddy and Chuck know they're going to have to work together to decipher what's really happening at Ashecliffe Hospital because one thing is for sure; nothing on Shutter Island is remotely what it seems.

If you enjoy suspenseful, mystery type stories, Shutter Island is worth the consideration! This isn't the first time That Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese have worked together. Their outstanding chemistry amplifies to an entirely new level in this dark and unstoppable thrill ride. Mark Ruffalo, who plays Chuck, also adds a crucial and riveting performance that adds to the gloomy atmosphere.

Shutter Island has received 4.5 stars out of 5.