Ray Gets Stuck On SHUTTER ISLAND!
Although I do not claim to be one of Martin Scorsese's greatest fans, I admit that he has several films placed among the greatest achievements in the medium. Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, and Goodfellas are stunning, delicately-crafted works of art. But, for me, Scorsese has more misses than hits, but some of that comes from Scorsese's willingness to extend himself, test himself. Take, for example, The Last Temptation Of Christ. It doesn't really work as a whole, but Scorsese's attempt at something so radical is breathtaking and worthy of admiration. Same with Age Of Innocence. But there are so many films in Scorsese's career - The Color Of Money, Cape Fear, or The Aviator - that reek of commercialism and heavy-handedness. That heavy hand is evident in Scorsese's latest, Shutter Island. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Teddy, an FBI agent investigating the disappearance of a dangerous mental patient from a highly-secured institution in 1954. We know the place is a dangerous den of secrets from the outset; the shrieking, Psycho-like soundtrack telegraphs its horrors at the first sight of the place. It was here the film lost me emotionally. Why would Scorsese resort to such cartoonishly-obvious nonsense? Is he mocking the horror genre? If not, then it's the most unintentionally hilarious scene of this young year. The film carries on for almost two hours in a similar mood, playing with shadows and gloom while accompanied by an overbearing soundtrack and startling flashbacks. Then comes the big reveal, which I will not spoil except to say that anyone who has seen The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari will be more than a little deflated by the finale. This is particularly true considering the sheer amount of torture Scorsese puts us through to get there; Caligari is short and sweet, while this film plays like a story-telling uncle who refuses to go home long after his stories lost their amusement. It's unfortunate that all of this inflated brio wastes an excellent group of performances. DiCaprio is quite good as Teddy, projecting both cockiness and instability as we watch Teddy unravel. Ben Kingsley is wonderful as Dr. Cawley, an administrator at Shutter Island; he is smoothly sinister, and he touches just the right nerve in the part. Even Kingsley's skill cannot match the dread coming off of Max Von Sydow as a wicked German doctor; the former Ming The Merciless still retains his icy, alien cool and unnerving eyes. And one of my favorite actors, Mark Ruffalo, manages to do a nice job in a tricky part. Ultimately, it's Scorsese that sinks this picture. He over-directs this film bombastically, ladling on effects and camera tricks until the entire enterprise collapses under the weight. This film needed a lighter, leaner touch; I kept thinking about what someone like Stanley Kubrick could have done with this movie. Much like his inappropriate handling of Cape Fear, Scorsese overdoes everything to irritating effect. A disappointment from a director better than this.