Saturday Night Flicks

Burton and Depp. Almodovar and Cruz. Spielberg and Hanks. These dynamic director-actor combinations have created some of the most memorable cinematic moments over the past twenty years. The newest pairing to join the group is Scorsese and DiCaprio. Much like the director-actor couplings that reigned before them, this relationship is completely mutualistic. Scorsese is responsible for taking DiCaprio from his status of a titanic teen heartthrob to a legitimate actor, while DiCaprio helped make Scorsese relevant in the 21^st century. However, though their partnership has created such film masterpieces as Gangs of New York, The Departed, and The Aviator, their newest enterprise, Shutter Island, falls short of living up to the Scorsese-DiCaprio name.

Set in post World War II America, Shutter Island is a psychological thriller about U.S Marshall Teddy Daniels and his investigation of an asylum for the criminally insane. Though the movie is visually stunning and rich in detail, the plot of the story is uncharacteristically unoriginal. Part Sixth Sense and part Secret Window, Shutter Island falls victim to a predictable narrative- (SPOILER ALERT) the main character ends up becoming a part of the madness that he is trying to escape from/solve.

To be honest, I left the theater confused. Why were people clapping as the credits rolled? Were they also, like me, mesmerized by the sweeping scenery or did they truly think the plot was original? I couldn’t help but think that this expression of enthusiasm was another example of the American public’s quick acceptance of superficiality rather than substance. Shutter Island is truly undeserving of the Scorsese-DiCaprio endorsement and it is an unfortunate hiccup in their cannon of work. 

Hope everyone is enjoying their spring break and please leave your comments below 🙂