Shutter Island Review

"Shutter Island" is a morbid, bloody thriller, yes, but there are great moments in it (Emily Mortimer has what may be the best single scene of unhinged acting power since Naomi Watts in "Mulholland Dr.," for but one example). There are also moments of unexpected tenderness in it, cracks in the darkness where light can still get in. "Shutter Island" is not a film from the lionized Scorsese who stands astride film like a colossus; instead, it's a giddy, gory gift from the Scorsese who sits beside us in the theater, elbowing us at the good bits and taking in the sinister spectacle up on the screen. It still builds to an emotionally powerful moment, one that almost makes up for the hey-now-with-the-what-now? convolutions of the plot. "Shutter Island" isn't the work of a great artist, but it is the work of a master craftsman, one who knows how to move your heart even as he rattles your nerves.