“Shutter Island” is a serious mind job, a powerful psychological thriller… a mystery noir that will keep you guessing even after you think you know what’s going on.

Yes, you’ve been warned: this movie carries an “R” rated for more adult subject matter: death, insanity, war, Nazi prison camps, death, and violence… yeah, its not for the young ones.

(My spoiler-free review)

In the “Shutter Island” trailer (which I’ve seen about 3 dozen times), Jackie Earle Haley’s character George calls Leonardo DiCaprio’s character Teddy “a rat in a maze”… but really George is talking to the audience: rats trapped in the intellectual maze engineered by the modern movie master: director Martin Scorsese… as the audience tries to figure out how the movie will end.

Luckily, unlike most other recent movies that had their release dates pushed back, “Shutter Island” was not ruined by a delayed release or seeing the movie’s trailer about 36 times.  The original release date was October 2, 2009, but it was delayed to February 19, 2010 reportedly due to the economy – a lack of financing to market the movie for this year’s Oscars race.

In movie-after-movie I saw the same trailer over-and-over, heard the same narration, heard the same lines of dialogue.   For “The Soloist”, for example, the repetition hurt the movie… but not “Shutter Island”… what I thought I knew about the movie turned out to be just skimming the surface of a movie with a lot of depth. 

Based on the 2003 novel of the same name, the movie is set in 1950’s Boston… with U.S. Marshall Teddy Daniels investigating a prisoner escape at a maximum security psychiatric facility.

But with such an overwhelming presence of armed guards and security measures at a facility on an island in the middle of nowhere… are they patients or prisoners?   Its a fact debated by Teddy and the facility’s top shrink Dr. Cawley… played perfectly by Ben Kingsley.

Kingsley’s Dr. Cawley is wierd, yet empathetic, spooky and mysterious, yet approachable.  Kinglsey is shifty and clearly hiding some kind of a secret, but amoung the staff he seems to be the one that cares the most for the patients, so you’re torn on what to make of the guy… and he makes it all effortless… like a puff of smoke from his pipe.

Director Scorsese is the real puppeteer here though… pulling the strings in a masterful order to drive the audience to the bring of insanity.

There are no real wasted moments on screen… everything has meaning or symbol… but there are lots of things going on both visually and mentally, which does make it a little tough to follow.   But it helps the audience relate with Teddy who is trying to sort out all the mysteries of the facility.

Scorsese uses color palettes for character themes, storms – both literally and figuratively (plus theme of water), there are twists and red herrings, hitchcock elements, noir elements, devices like corridors and tunnels and winding stairwells, and other claustrophobic inducing settings.   He makes us tense, on edge, oddly uneasy about what is happening.  The movie is immersive as suspense builds… with great cinematography and a foreboding score.  And just when you think you have it figured out… another careful tug of the string takes the movie in another direction.

DiCaprio’s character Teddy is layered with different emotions, he gives such a strong and genuine heartfelt and emotionally exhaustive performance.  He’s dealing with real-life horrors from his life: freeing the survivors of the Dachau concentration camp, the death of his love, and the mysteries of the island institution he is investigating.   Only the release date will keep Leo from being overlooked for an Oscar nomination.

 The supporting cast helps flesh out the story including a suspicious John Carroll Lynch, an intimidating Ted Levine, a mean conniving Max von Sydow, trippy Michelle Williams and Emily Mortimer, a sidekick-esque performance from Mark Ruffalo, and spirited but brief scenes from the always wonderful Patricia Clarkson and the talented chameleon Jackie Earle Haley.

THE BOTTOM LINE:   (more…)

“Where The Wild Things Are” is a great fantasy adventure, director Spike Jonze delivers an incredible world of fantasy focused on Max, a boy with a lot of energy and no friends… who falls into place in the world of the wild things.

While its based on Maurice Sendak’s children’s book, the movie may not be good for young children, as the monsters are very big, real, and scary… a credit to the filmmakers that the wild things were so believable, because if they weren’t this movie would have been hard to watch.

  (My spoiler-free review)

12 year old Max Records delivers a great performance as Max, a wild child with no friends and not even his mom will put up with him because he’s out of control.

Max is great as the crazy little monster who makes his way to an imaginative world, where being a rambunctious tall tale teller is acceptable.   The movie is dependent on the success of Max’s performance and its the best child performance of the year.

Jonze creates a very real fantastical world with convincing characters of Carol, Ida, Judith, K.W., and others… its easy to follow and fun to be immersed in.   The message is pretty clear, that Max needs to grow up and being such a problem child, but its encased in a fun story in a world of make believe.

If nothing else, the costumes in “Where The Wild Things Are” should put the movie up for an Oscar nomination this year.

THE BOTTOM LINE:  (more…)