.jeri.

These days, I seem to catch a lot of movies at the discount theater, because the movie trailers just aren't selling the movies to me. Is it due to poorly-made trailers, or have I just seen so many trailers that nothing looks very new or exciting? In any case, the trailers for Shutter Island made it look like a generic horror movie, which held no interest for me. Once it received some positive reviews, I decided I could risk $2; I know, I'm a Scorsese fan, but I was one of few who haven't been all that impressed with his more recent work.

At any rate, I was so glad I went to see it! The movie follows a Marshal who is sent to Shutter Island, which houses a mental hospital for the criminally insane. He served in WWII and saw the liberation of Dachau, and as he investigates the case of a missing patient on the island, we see several flashbacks of his experience there, as well as flashbacks or dreams of his dead wife. The flashbacks and dream sequences are, well, glorious. The images are striking, haunting, weird, moving, and beautiful. The music selection that accompanies them is perfect. On a side note, I wanted to buy some pieces from the soundtrack but was upset to find that one can't buy individual songs from it - only the whole thing. That's your loss, marketers (and mine too, I guess).

The whole movie reminded me of a classic psychological drama, along the lines of Hitchcock's Spellbound. I'm sure Scorsese would appreciate that comparison, on which I will not elaborate in case it gives any spoilers away for Shutter Island, although I don't think revealing the spoilers would ruin the movie experience. From the movie's beginning, it was pretty apparent where it was headed, even if I didn't know exactly how it would end. It's how the movie plays out that makes me appreciate it. Leonardo DiCaprio plays the lead role, and he is accompanied by an awesome cast that includes Ben Kingsley, Max Von Sydow, Emily Mortimer, Michelle Williams, Mark Ruffalo, Patricia Clarkson, and Jackie Earle Hayley. With such a cast, and the beautiful directorial eye, it's no wonder the material works.

The only complaint I would have about Shutter Island would be about the explanatory tone of the final act. I think there's too much time spent on resolution, and the final scenes drag a bit. It's almost as if so much fervor had been put into the rest of the movie that creativity kind of went out the door for the ending. I think that's why when I left the theater, I wasn't too sure what I thought about the movie as a whole. As I've had time to reflect back on it, I've realized I liked it quite a bit. It doesn't rank at the top of my Scorsese list, but I would probably place it above the likes of The Departed. I'll have to see what repeat viewings will do to my opinion; I'd like to make sure I wasn't just relieved that I wasn't watching a horror movie, but I'm pretty sure it will hold up over time. There are some scenes that are so memorable that I don't think I'll forget them.