Review of Shutter Island

Scorsese and DiCaprio are back together doing what they do best-- making great films. This time around they benefit from the support of Ben Kingsley (this year's Christoph Waltz, who stole the show in Inglorious Basterds) and Mark Ruffalo (who, if you haven't figured it out by now, is among the most capable of all unsung actors working today). Perhaps mis-marketed as simply a gritty super-natural horror story, Shutter Island is so much more-- a convincing period piece, a visually stunning fever-dream, and, excuse the cliche, a top-shelf, knock em all over and win the biggest f***ing stuffed panda out of the sweat shop, psychological thriller. Granted, there's nothing in this movie, plot-wise, that hasn't been done before, it's just that it's seldom been done this well. Here Scorsese strays far away from his normal, taxi-cab-laiden streets or compelling, fearless bio-pics. It's as though Scorsese shuddered, pun regretfully intended, at the decline of the average movie-goers tastes, but figured, "hell, if it's creepy, atmospheric thrills with twist-endings they want, then that's what they'll get. But I'll be damned if I don't find a way to remain a relevant film-maker in the process."