Welcome to my first monthly “film festival” where I watch a bunch of movies on a theme. This month, in honor of Patriots Day weekend I will be watching a bunch of Boston movies, also known as “Film No R.” There are so many movies set/filmed in my hometown that I made a list on Letterboxd. I probably will never watch all of them, but this weekend I’m going to check of some of the more prominent movies I’ve missed.
Title: Shutter Island
Release Date: February 19, 2010
Director: Martin Scorsese
Production Company: Phoenix Pictures | Sikelia Productions | Appian Way Productions
Summary/Review:
Adapted from a novel by Dennis Lehane, Shutter Island is set in 1954 at the fictional Ashecliffe Hospital for the criminally insane on Shutter Island in Boston Harbor. I’m going to start off by being the pedant who points out that none of the drumlin islands in Boston Harbor has sheer rock cliffs rising from the sea (those scenes were shot in Acadia National Park and California). However, much of the rest of the film was shot in locations throughout Eastern Massachusetts, so I’ll give it a pass.
The film begins when U.S. Marshall Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) meets his new partner Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo) on the ferry to the island. They are investigating the disappearance of a dangerous patient. Teddy reveals to his partner that he has ulterior motives for visiting the hospital which he believes is also holding an arsonist responsible for the death of his wife and is conducting mind experiments on the patients. The hospital, lead by Dr. John Cawley (Ben Kingsley), appear to be hiding something. A hurricane causes chaos to breakout on the island. Meanwhile, Teddy is haunted by memories of liberating Dachau as a young soldier as well as his late wife Dolores (Michelle Williams).
The movie maintains a good sense of mystery and menace, and features a strong performance by DiCaprio. On the down side, there are a number of twists that are just corny, although that’s typical of Lehane’s work in my experience. There’s a lot that doesn’t make sense, some of which can be chalked up to the unreality of the scenario. But when the mystery is revealed, I also wondered why certain characters would have done what they did under those circumstances. So, it’s a flawed but entertaining film.
Rating: ***