In “Shutter Island,” Scorsese Turns Instant-Classic Book Into Potentially Epic Movie

Teddy Daniels: “Why are you all wet, baby?”

It had been a long wait to see one of my favorite recent books, “Shutter Island” by Dennis Lehane, hit the big screen. The trailer was released nearly a year ago, which prompted my excitement at the time, and learning of the involvement of near-genius director Martin Scorsese certainly only added to my interest level. The delayed release of this much-anticipated flick was a disappointment, so when I was able to take it all in at Raleighwood recently with a beer in my hand, I was admittedly near-giddy.

The ultimate setup for a letdown, yes? But no. Scorsese, Leonardo DiCaprio, Ben Kingsley and Co. more than delivered.

As much more of a psychological thriller than his customary detective stories set in Boston, Lehane arguably creates a career-defining work here, and Scorsese not only does it justice and honors, but takes it to another level. He pulls off a masterpiece of setting in this one, painting Shutter Island as an Alcatraz-like outcropping, very true to the book. In fact, most of the visual imagery and setting is almost exactly as you pictured it in your mind as you read Lehane’s words, a welcome surprise in an industry where films very rarely are able to fulfill what the book creates in your mind’s eye. Throw in an almost-perfect soundtrack that punctuates and complements the action beautifully, and you begin to see the mastery that is Scorsese.

I’ve often made it clear that I’m not a big fan of DiCaprio, and he is occasionally guilty in his role as U.S. marshal Teddy Daniels of overacting and becoming a bit of a caricature of a troubled detective. In that sense, his portrayal, along with the usage of vivid flashbacks and some irregular behavior, sap a bit of the surprise element that is inherent in this story. I don’t think I’m giving away too much when I say that the drama and tension built into the closing scenes of the movie, while very good, don’t quite live up to what was generated by the conclusion of the book. That being said, DiCaprio still does a strong job, and he’s complemented well by the once-overrated Mark Ruffalo as his slightly mysterious partner. Emily Mortimer is an inspired choice as the missing prisoner, Rachel, but, simply and honestly, Michelle Williams felt like a miscast as Daniels’s one-time love interest, Dolores Chanal.

But it is Ben Kingsley as Dr. Cawley that gives the flick its backbone and steals many of the scenes that may have faltered otherwise. Presiding over a forebidding facility that houses the most violent of the criminally insane, Kingsley is as stately as always, but also brings a taste of potential malevolence to the role. He helps to serve as the fulcrum for one of the movie’s central premises, which is the idea that once you are deemed insane, you can’t be taken seriously, no matter what you say, because the perception that you are crazy clouds and discredits both your words and actions. Likewise, however, and underneath it all, the film also could argue the opposite: that once you are esteemed to be bonafide, you can say and act insane and it will still be taken as the gospel if you are perceived to be a member of the upper crust. In this way, Scorsese challenges us to recognize that it works both ways.

I will say that a new perspective and opinion that was shared about the movie’s ending was a revelation to me, proving that sometime a fresh pair of eyes can bring up a myriad of possibilities to something you thought you knew well. And it’s also a complex, many-layered flick that begs to be pondered, thought of, marinated over and seen more than once, being that it is a piece that’s populated with many sides, angles, perspectives and facades.

Once you’ve seen “Shutter Island,” you’ll see for yourself how difficult it is to review and talk about without feeling as if you’ve given away too much. But I don’t think I’m giving away the farm when I tell you that Scorsese has done it once again, this time eclipsing a very formidable obstacle: taking a tremendous book and crafting it into a tremendous film.

Warden: “If I were to sink my teeth into your eye right now, could you stop me before I blinded you?”
Daniels: “Give it a try.”
Warden: “That’s the spirit.”