Last June, as I sat in a crowded theater waiting for The Hangover to begin, I couldn’t help but roll my eyes as the usual cheesy trailers began to play. After the short ads for typical romantic comedies and action flicks, I knew that there was sure to be some sort of push for a cheesy horror film. When the false-whisper of a mental patient blasted from the speakers as the screen lit up with images of a spooky island, I knew that I would not be disappointed. It wasn’t until the camera panned to a wide-eyed Leonardo DiCaprio that I was truely suprised. What was Leo doing in this trashy movie? Then, the credits for the trailer scrolled across the screen and I was delt my second shock of the evening: not only was Leonardo DiCaprio an enabler of this monstrosity, but Martin Scorcese, too?
After eleven Oscar nominations, expecting big things from seasoned director Martin Scorcese has become habit for average movie-goers and finniky film critics alike. When coupled with beloved actor Leonardo DiCaprio, the expectation of a fine cinematic output is a given. The duo first worked together in 2002’s Gangs of New York and garnered an Oscar nod for the flick about the violence in 1860’s tenaments. Two years later they reconvened for The Aviator, which was met with the same amount of critical acclaim. In 2006, the pair had their greatest success of all with The Departed, in which DiCaprio played an undercover cop who had infiltrated the Boston Irish mob. The film won four Academy Awards including the prestigious Best Picture, and proved to be a personal triumph for Scorcese who earned his first and, to date, only Best Director win. In light of these successful collaborations, it is not surprising that they wanted to try for a fourth film. However, after being disappointed by the overdone special effects and terrible dialogue of the Shutter Island trailer, I did not have high hopes.
The movie opens aboard a ferry with two US Marshals, the inexperienced Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo) and veteran investigator Teddy Daniels (DiCaprio) discussing a case as they move through the mist towards an ominous-looking island. The audience soon learns that the isolated land mass serves as a mental hospital for the world’s most unstable violent offenders who have been deemed psychologically unfit to serve time in regular prisons for their gruesome crimes. The men are there to investigate the disappearance of a female inmate who has, it seems, in the words of the warden, “disappeared into thin air.” This makes the two men understandably spooked, a feeling which is amplified as they begin to explore the island.
“We gotta get off this rock, Chuck.” This phrase, mumbled by Leonardo DiCaprio’s character soon after the pair begins their search for the MIA crazy, may be the biggest understatement in cinematic history. Over the day and a half, things get weird. After finding the employees of the hospital uncooperative, Daniels becomes increasingly paranoid. He begins to have horrifying nightmares about his time as a soldier during which he witnessed the liberation of a Nazi concentration camp. He hallucinates that his dead wife is with him, he yells at wardens, accuses doctors of trying to turn patients into test subjects and even makes a somber promise to kill a patient that he believes to be responsible for his wife’s death.
After his partner disappears, Daniels completely loses it. Typical horror movie twists ensue. A hurricane hits. Crazy inmates run around and try to kill the investigators. DiCaprio plots to get off the island at any cost. While none of these are novel plotlines for a ‘thriller,’ something about Scorcese’s style makes it seem fresh. Although many members of the audience will find themselves subconsciously acknowledging that they have seen this movie before, they will be too wrapped up in the impressive scenery and terrific acting to care. While this is often enough to make even a mediocre movie a blockbuster success, Shutter Island eventually pulls it together and becomes a quality piece of cinema. Luckily for Scorcese, the last few minutes of the film are filled with several shocking twists that salvage the stale material and generate real suspense. However, I am still not sure that the enthralling final scenes make up for over two hours of footage that would be better suited for a low-budget horror film than the work of a true master.
