Year:  2010
Genre:  Drama, Thriller
Country:  United States
Language:  English
Starring:  Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Max Von Sydow, Patricia Clarkson, Michelle Williams, Emily Mortimer, Jackie Earle Haley
Director:  Martin Scorcese
Run time:  137 minutes
DVD distributor:  Paramount Home Entertainment

     There are some cool gimmicks that coincide with the release of Shutter Island on DVD, June 8th from Paramount Home Entertainment.  One is a facebook-connected game, the Shutter Island psych test.  Are you sane enough to be released from Shutter Island?  Click here to find out.  The weird thing is, there are no gimmicks on the DVD itself.  In fact, aside from the movie itself, there is almost nothing on the DVD, in terms of special features.

     I would have expected at least a couple.  It’s rare that I complain about a lack of special features.  After all, I rarely watch them anyway, and I have little interest.  But with Shutter Island, I watched the DVD with some friends, and all of us went searching for extras as soon as it was over.  This was the second time I had seen the film.  The first time, in the theatre, I liked it.  But the second time, I saw more than I did in the theatre, and liked it more.

     Shutter Island is not what I expect from Martin Scorcese and Leonardo DiCaprio.  It’s…well…gimmicky.  That is of course by design, as the movie is a throwback to the noir potboilers of the 50s and 60s.  It’s genuinely tense, even when you have seen it once and know what’s about to happen.  It’s filmed in such a gritty and dark way that many scenes left me breathless even when not much was actually happening.  And although the finale is a little obvious, there are so many twists and turns along the way that I didn’t care.

     That’s the main reason to pick up Shutter Island, the twists and turns and mystery that unfolds slowly throughout the film.  I gave this movie six stars after seeing it in the theatre.  Now I watch again, and I give it seven stars.  Perhaps after four more viewings, I will consider it to be the greatest movie of all time.  That’s unlikely, but Shutter Island does require multiple viewings.  So you have two choices on June 8th – either rent the film five times, or buy it and watch it five times.

This entry was posted on Monday, June 7th, 2010 at 3:48 am and is filed under 2010, Drama, Thriller. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.