Martin Scorsese's 'Shutter Island' Not Quality Quite Oscar-Bait For 2009?

We’re on a script-reading frenzy of late and just finished, Martin Scorsese’s ‘Ashecliffe’ “Shutter Island.” “The Departed” director and Leonardo DiCaprio obviously reunited last year in Massachusetts for the filming of the psycho-thriller based on Boston writer Dennis Lehane’s novel, “Shutter Island.”

The Good:
We recently read Laeta Kalogridis’ script and were left troubled. Let’s back up. By the time we got to page 80, we sent a note to The Playlist team strongly urging them to read this thrilling, fast-paced and gripping page turner, it was that good. A meat and potatoes no-nonsense crime thriller “Shutter Island,” was an amazing read (at least initially). Set in the 1950s about two Federal Marshalls (Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo) who are sent to a psychiatric hospital for the mentally insane to investigate the mysterious escape of a dangerous female patient (Emily Mortimer), the script is one of the most taut, tense page turners we’ve read in recent months.

The Gist: Set on an island (Shutter Island) in the middle of a hurricane, the hospital is named Ashecliffe and its chief doctors (Ben Kingsley and Max Von Sydow) are veiled and baleful wardens who run a methodical ship with extraordinarily strict rules and inordinate security measures. The hospital is strangely above the purview of the Federal Marshalls and what laws are chief seem to be an unprecedented mix of Mental Heath and Federal Department of Prisons. Something sinister seems to be afoot… [ed. note there is no way Kingsley and Von Sydow will not be absolutely perfect for these juicy roles]. One hint, there are a lot of dream sequences in this thing.

The Bad: However, when we got to the end of the 130-ish page long screenplay, we sent back another note to the team and rescinded our endorsement (a mild spoiler coming, but it’s still very, very vague). Now those who have read the Lehane book — like this guy — are fully aware that the film comes with a pretty big twist, but we were unaware of it and we have to say it didn’t floor us — in fact it left us with a bad taste in our mouth. It wasn’t quite, “it was all a dream!,” but it wasn’t fantastic and sort of reminded us of a M. Night Shyamalan ending. No, it’s not that bad, the third act is the reveal and not the last ta-daa! scene like Shyamalan loves to do, but it felt like a pretty Hollywood-like twist. Let’s qualify that: it’s not predictable (though the seeds are sown) and when it comes you are a little wowed, but we were also disappointed, because you were hoping for more.

“Shutter Island” will make for an excellent thriller, but it’s a roller coaster ride – as in, you’ll squeal, delight and love the experience, but once you’ve seen it, you’re probably not going to put it on repeat viewings. Some obviously love roller coaster suspense rides, and maybe will absolutely love it — Scorses will obviously craft an an amazing ride — but in film, we find these types of narratives make for a great one-time experience, but don’t have a lot of longtail resonance. We were hoping for something deeper and possibly something that would be a key piece of 2009 Oscar-bait, but it doesn’t feel like that’s in the cards. The tone seems off. We could see perhaps an actor or two scoring a nomination, but like Lehane’s “Gone Baby Gone” (which is similarly structured with its twist),

We may get to a deeper script review soon (which is difficult because you can’t say a lot without risking a spoiler), but we wanted to spit this out and our disappointment now.

“Shutter Island,” hits theaters October 2, 2009 and also features key appearances by Michelle Williams, Jackie Earle Haley, Elias Koteas, Patricia Clarkson, and character actors John Carroll Lynch (Marge’s husband in “Fargo”) and Ted Levine (Buffalo Bill, the killer in “The Silence of the Lambs”).