Shutter Island? Eh, more like This Just Isn't Working Island.

When I first heard about Shutter Island, I was pretty stoked. I like Scorsese and Ben Kingsley and the setting is a mental institution? That's my shit! (not meaning I'd like to live there, but psych major - hello!) Then I read a review which stated Shutter Island was infact a character study rather than an action dependent film. Oh, that's awesome! Pretty much as soon as it was released, everyone had an opinion and none of them were positive. Oh, it sucked, the ending was such a disappointment, blah, blah, blah. At that point I was a bit torn as to whether or not I would give it a shot.

So, the other night I ordered it on-demand, right from the comfort of my own home (man, that service just promotes laziness). Since it took me so long to finally see it, I already knew there was going to be some "surprise" ending. So as the film is about 1.5 minutes in (that's not precise, but a reasonable guesstimation) my mind was all over the place. What could it be? My first thought? The answer is - he's really a patient. Cha-ching! Alex, what do I win?

I thought the story was pretty decent. It was indeed a character study. Basically we're "unknowingly" inside Leo's mind the entire time (yes, I feel I can call him Leo despite the fact we've never met). But this just didn't feel right. I felt like the film was confused. I've seen similar subjects explored in indie films like Spider and The Machinist, two amazing films most people never even heard of. But compared to Shutter Island, those films felt so much more authentic. They were real, raw and stripped down. They didn't contain some elaborate scheme I just can't see happening in the real world (if any mental institution actually went to the lengths they did, they're the sick ones). It just didn't work for me. For a true character study, I don't see the need for all the hoopla. Maybe it's the "film elitist" in me, but I felt like Shutter Island was a big budget, big actor film trying to stuff itself inside an indie film casing.

So, in the end, will I be upset when that $4.99 charge shows up on my cable bill? Nah, not really, at least it didn't go towards crack.