Shutter Island

Martin Scorsese. Did you know that he seriously deliberated entering the priesthood, even entering seminary? I found this to be very interesting. He later opted to channel his passions into film; lucky for us because that man can direct a film. And Leonardo DiCaprio couldn’t be a better actor. He’s truly brilliant. And damn if he didn’t have an uncanny resemblance to Brad Pitt in this movie! It kept freaking me out. Seriously, go see the movie and tell me you don’t see it. It’s there; it’s the mustache. Michelle Williams’ character plays a pretty important role in the film, although you don’t actually see her on screen that often. In fact, I don’t think I even realized she was in the film until I saw her on screen. But when you did see her, she captivated her role and the screen. And Mark Ruffalo, I didn’t realize it was him for nearly the first fifteen minutes of the movie! I think he might be overlooked as a serious actor, but I’m not sure why because he was really great as well.

I’m talking about Shutter Island. I saw it Friday night with Cassie and Jeff. I won’t spoil anything for those who haven’t seen it. But, to describe it in one word; amazing. Have you seen A Beautiful Mind with Russell Crowe? This movie reminded me of that in a sense. I had my hesitations going into it because I’m really not a scary movie person. My mind wanders too much and it’s not so much the duration of the movie that’s the problem, it’s after. Scary movies, they just don’t do it for me. But I didn’t want to give up on the chance to see Scorsese and DiCaprio work together again (they previously worked together on Gangs of New York and The Aviator). I also had to see what all the hype was about. I had to check out the big twist for myself. And I will tell you; this movie wasn’t scary in the least. Not at all. I did jump a few times, but it was at random moments like when DiCaprio struck a match. See, totally random. It was unexpected and it startled me. Other than a few moments like that, I wouldn’t say this movie was scary at all. Suspenseful? Yes, definitely. And I think Scorsese’s slow motion techniques, the lighting and the music played a huge role in that. Did I have to pay attention? Absolutely. I actually think I tried to look too far into things, to symbolize every single thing, when really, everything you need is right there on the surface. Like when the patient asks for a glass of water and in one shot you see the glass and the next shot you don’t. Was it a mistake made on the editing floor? Was it a clue into something else? Was it just Scorsese’s way of keeping us as disoriented as the patients? Did I figure out the twist before the end? Yes, I did, slowly. Things start to add up, to come together. If you pay attention, you can figure it out. Some things, not until right before they happen, others, I had them figured out from pretty early on, as did Cassie. Jeff on the other hand thought he had it figured out until it ended. He was wrong about everything. We had a good laugh about that. But really, the movie is just one big puzzle and piece by piece you have to put it together.

It really truly and honestly was a great film. I highly recommend it. And I can’t wait for it to come out on DVD.