Insanity Is Contagious

Things aren't what they seem on Shutter Island, and neither is the movie of the same name. Shutter Island would appear on the surface to be a crack thriller: It has Martin Scorsese behind the camera, source material written by Dennis Lehane, and actors like Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, and Ben Kingsley in lead roles. Instead, this film, about a federal marshall investigating a disappearance at a mental institution off the coast of Boston, is a bit of an overly long, heavy handed mess. Nearly everything about it is overdone, from DiCaprio's acting (and his Boston accent) to the score, which announces early on in no uncertain terms that the institution is bad news. When the plot reaches its climax, the resolution just goes on and on, as if Scorsese was trying to trap you — just like his lead character has been trapped. Shutter Island won't go down as one of Marty's best, that's for sure. I'm giving it a C.