Monday Movie: Shutter Island by @destroytheearth

What's the recipe for a perfect movie? A perfect cast? A maestro director fresh from his first Oscar win? A creepy setting? Artful dream sequences? A cracking mystery? A twist you can see coming in the first five minutes, but when is actually revealed, goes beyond what you expect and shows all the excitement that came before to have actually been something pedestrian and dull, alienating the audience and undoing all the hard work done so far...? Hang on...

I've defended films with rubbish endings before, but this is different. I was all set to write about how much I loved this film here, right up until that ending managed to pervert a gripping murder-mystery into a rather-damp weepy.

The temptation to blow the ending for you all and rant about just what is wrong with it is tremendous, but I will spare you; more because I don't want to ruin the experience of the first 90% of the film for you than out of fear of any spoilers.



Still, one shouldn't really hold Scorsese accountable for this; the film is, after all, a fairly faithful adaptation of the source material, and Scorsese's ending does improve on the novel's. The direction is masterful and the cast includes: DiCaprio, Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Max von Sydow, Michelle Williams, Jackie Earle Haley, Emily Mortimer, Elias Kotias, and on and on.

Just please, leave the film ten minutes early and make up your own ending...