Shutter Island
Director: Martin Scorsese
With: Lenoardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Max von Sydow, Michelle Williams, Emily Mortimer, Patricia Clarkson, etc.
(This will be a no-spoiler review.)
I had the opportunity to interview Dennis Lehane when he toured through Portland for this book. Lehane is one of the finest crime writers in the world, and his books are among those said to transcend genre. Shutter Island was a gripping and disturbing book, with a peculiar hallucinatory quality. So, I despaired that this could be well translated to the screen.
Enter Scorsese, who turns out to be up to the task, mostly. In his defense, as though he needs me to defend him, no one could do this book compete justice.
Teddy Daniels (DiCaprio) is a US Marshal en route to an island hospital for the criminally insane located in Boston harbor, in 1954. He is with a new partner, Chuck (Ruffalo) to look for an escaped child murderer.
When they get there they discover a tightly-controlled environment run by Drs. Cawley (Kingsley) and Naehring (Von Sydow). Cawley comes across as manipulative and shady, and Naehring, a German, pushes Teddy’s buttons, because he helped to liberate the concentration camp at Dachau.
Restricted in their activities by hospital rules, the two marshals are hampered in their investigation, and suspicion grows into paranoia. Teddy begins to suspect everyone, even Chuck, and when he is able to get away to search the island on his own, he makes discoveries that throw the whole situation into doubt. The more he pushes, the more the asylum’s system pushes back.
And, in an interview with a patient who knew the escaped prisoner, the patient scrawls “RUN” in Teddy’s notes. Teddy begins to think that he has become a victim of an evil plot.
Beautifully creepy, very well acted, even by Ruffalo, whose talent has always eluded me. The small parts are handled by terrific actors, and Williams, as Teddy’s dead wife who visits him in visions, is excellent.
And, of course, Scorsese paces and ratchets up the action deliberately. Some may find the pace too slow, but it was just right for me.
Great work, and not a disappointment for lovers of the novel.
A-
Happy Tears
Director: Mitchell Lichtenstein
With: Demi Moore, Parker Posey, Rip Torn, Ellen Barkin
This is an “indie film,” a movie done outside of the studio system, low-budget, filled with oddball characters in unusual situations, bittersweet in tone and small in scope. All indies share some version of this template. Some do it very well, but most are mixed bags in which some things work great and others misfire.
The history of indies is a long and distinguished one, with directors like John Cassavetes, Roger Corman and George Romero, and movies like Easy Rider, Elephant Man, Eraserhead and Stranger Than Paradise.
The movement has also spawned its share of misfires, including the ironically pretentious Dogme 95 and the current mumblecore. Dogme 95 was a reaction to slick production, overuse of special effects and genre movies. It got bogged down in its own earnestness and cliches. Lars von Trier was one of the instigators, but he has grown past this.
Mumblecore movies are made by twenty-something urban hipsters. They are a lot like hanging out with your friends, providing your friends aren’t very interesting. If, as Hitchcock said, movies are life with the dull parts removed, mumblecore is the out-takes.
There have been some great recent indies, like Chop Shop, Sugar, even Little Miss Sunshine. Each of these transcended the conventions of the indie film in some way, usually with a great idea. Writing is always the problem, whether we are discussing indies or Avatar.
Sometimes it is the cast. With Sunshine Cleaning, for example, a mediocre script was lifted by a wonderful group of actors.
Now we come to Happy Tears. The characters are quirky, check. They are hard to like, making them, you know, deep. It is about a family in crisis, a common indie theme, and the actors are better than the script. Much better.
Joe (Torn) is a cranky old man who is slipping both mentally and physically. His daughters Laura (Moore) and Jayne (Posey) have come to the old homestead to care for him. Laura, a centered earth-mother type, has been doing it a while and needs a break. Jayne, a self-indulgent neurotic, hardly seems capable of stepping in.
Special note of Ellen Barkin, who plays Joe’s unsavory girl friend. I miss her in movies, but this may not have been in her best interest as a career reviver. Still, it’s good to see her.
Well, there are old family secrets, emotional confrontations and more quirky friends and neighbors. A few laughs, a bit too much neurosis and a silly ending.
Moore gets away best, here. Posey, once the indie queen, has been plowing that row for way too long, and Torn hardly uses his skills on this character.
Again, the writing is the weak link. But, it’s clear that writer/director Lichtenstein has talent and may yet give us a good movie.
C