104. Shutter Island

104. Shutter Island

Shutter Island is the 4th collaboration between Leonardo DiCaprio and director Martin Scorsese.

The year is 1954. US Marshall Teddy Daniels is on a ferry to Shutter Island, home of the Ashcliffe Hospital for the Criminally Insane. Along with him is his new partner, Chuck Aule. Together, they are called to the island to find a patient who has vanished. The patient, Rachel Solando, has seemingly evaporated into thin air. What is going on on Shutter Island?

This is just an excellent movie. Since first viewing it on Sunday, I've gone back and watched it twice more. Given what I'm trying to accomplish here, that's quite an achievement. First off, don't be fooled by the trailer. This is not a horror flick. At one point, I actually thought that it was. There's no real blood and gore or anything even remotely scary. This is a mystery, straight up. It's the type of movie that deserves multiple viewings, just so you can go back and catch those subtle nuances that you might have missed the first or second times around.

Let's start with the story. While the story is nothing particularly new, it's done well here. It's extremely engaging and just sucks you right in from the very start. The performances here are top notch. I'm not a big fan of DiCaprio but he's excellent here. Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley and Max Von Sydow are also all great. Michelle Williams and Jackie Earl Haley also provide solid turns in supporting roles.

Overall, Shutter Island is just a great movie and is well worth watching. I highly recommend checking it out.