Shutter Island is mysteriously intriguing for the first several minutes, when it's about two US Marshals who take a ferry to a psychiatric prison (hospital) in order to search for a potentially dangerous inmate (patient) who's apparently escaped sometime within the last 24 hours. But soon, as it begins to seem that things aren't what they seem, it's just a mystery; less intriguing than confusing; almost disinteresting and potentially pointless.
Leonardo DiCaprio does a notable job, as usual, and there are no major complaints about the way director Martin Scorsese presents the story. It's the story itself, plotted by Laeta Kalogridis and based on a novel by Dennis Lehane, that threatens to shutter in on itself. There are just too many incohesive scenes and character flashbacks; not enough logical narration; which makes some sense in the end, but not over two hours of your time's worth.
3 of 5
