Young Viewer’s Take
Greg Vellante

There is no such thing as a perfect book-to-movie adaptation, but “Shutter Island” is about as close to flawless as any film could possibly get.

Yes, in terms of transferring Dennis Lehane’s eerie mystery novel to the big screen, “Shutter Island” has few faults. As a movie in general, though, “Shutter Island” stands between the barrier of good and great many times throughout its 138-minute running time, yet the film ultimately comes down to a series of missed opportunities to actually cross that threshold.

I wondered what attracted Martin Scorsese to this particular story. From a director most notable for his indelible gangster films (“Goodfellas,” “Mean Streets,” “The Departed”), concert documentaries (“Shine a Light,” “The Last Waltz”), and biopics (“The Aviator”), the choice to direct an eerie, mystery thriller such as “Shutter Island” seemed like an anomaly in the filmmaker’s flow.

My guess is the characters, a strong component to any classic Scorsese picture.

The film’s Teddy Daniels (played by the always-sublime Leonardo DiCaprio) is nipping at the tails of deep-rooted Scorsese characters such as “Taxi Driver’s” Travis Bickle and “Raging Bull’s” Jake LaMotta (both played by Scorsese’s classic collaborator, Robert De Niro). With “Shutter Island” being the fourth film on which Scorsese and DiCaprio have teamed up on, the latter is quickly becoming the former’s new, fresh cinematic companion, while some may argue that he already is “The New De Niro.”

Regardless, “Shutter Island,” despite being consistently entertaining, haunting, well directed and performed, is one of the weakest of Scorsese and DiCaprio’s career. A story shrouded in secrecy, the film’s premise is continuously undergoing exponential growth in terms of development. Like Lehane’s book, the film moves fast for most of its duration, yet manages to execute a dead halt time-wise when it really wants to pack its punches.

The thrilling and chilling storyline follows U.S. Marshal Daniels and his partner Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo) as they travel to the ominous Shutter Island to investigate the disappearance of a female patient from the Ashcliffe Mental Hospital for the Criminally Insane.

Screenwriter Laeta Kalogridis adapts Lehane’s text with a fine-toothed comb, transferring dialogue word-for-word and plot structure scene-for-scene with very minimal creative alterations. Scorsese captures the novel’s ghostly and atmospheric mood with striking precision. The score fluctuates from an overpowering force (at times almost too much) to a deathly silence, a technique that allows for maximum chills.

The film’s greatest scenes are two dream sequences: the first one short and mysterious, and the second lengthy, unnerving, and key to the movie’s shocking revelations. What makes these moments so superb is that fact that Scorsese directs them as if they actually were dreams. Abrupt, constantly shifting, illogical, yet completely engulfed in meaning, Scorsese captures the essence of dreams with terrifying authenticity.

Readers of the novel know very well of Lehane’s compelling “twist,” as well as the slightly confusing final moments. I’ve always viewed the ending as up-for-interpretation, while the film makes one minor adjustment that allows for less of an analysis and more of a lucid conclusion. Whether this decision works is wholly up to the reaction of the viewer. Personally, the film verified my original interpretation of the ending, so I was rather pleased, while other readers with alternate takes may cry foul.

“Shutter Island” is a film of moments. Some moments are great, while others are mediocre, yet as an entirety, “Shutter Island” falls short of any true expectation a fan would have for a Martin Scorsese film.

I spent the entire film looking for the director’s immediately recognizable signature, yet the effort resulted in a childlike game of “Where’s Marty?” I’m sure that Scorsese signed “Shutter Island” somewhere. But he must have been using invisible ink.
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Greg Vellante is a graduate of North Andover High School who is currently attending UMass Lowell. He has been reviewing and writing about movies for The Eagle-Tribune since 2007.