Shutter Island (2010, USA)

I really wanted to like Shutter Island. And for the first hour or so, I sunk into it as glorious pulp entertainment. Then it kept going. And going. Even well after pretty much everyone in the audience should have figured out what was happening, Shutter didn't let up - like Scorsese was loath to forego the lessons in obviousness that he learned on the set of The Departed (o hai rats). I am a fan of entertainment for entertainment's sake, and I would have been well satisfied had Shutter provided same, but Scorsese seemed to feel that he had to add gravitas by the bucketful to the proceedings. Despite some gorgeous cinematography and production design and great small turns by Max von Sydow, Jackie Earle Haley, and Ted Levine, I came away with a strong impression of a film that was pushing hard to make a point that didn't require quite so much muscle behind it.

Thinking on it a bit more, I think I may have figured out what it is that bothers me so much about Scorsese of late. The man has, seemingly, no sense of humor at all - neither about himself, nor about the films he's making. Shutter could have been an awesome opportunity for a sly, tongue-in-cheek dissection of a particular type of psychological thriller, but there was never any doubt that Scorsese would play it absolutely straight.