Despite endless buildup and a four-month release delay, Martin Scorsese’s Shutter Island is not winning over critics. The AP cites an “inherent gloom” that wears away at audiences, although it does credit Scorsese for “seemingly hurl[ing] everything the director knows about filmmaking up on screen in a blazing, masterful technical triumph.” It’s a common critique among film buffs, who seem less upset with the movie than perplexed. The New York Daily News remarks that “what ultimately sticks in the mind is how hard the movie works for so little effect,” admitting that the film is expertly shot and brilliantly acted. Critics seem disappointed in Scorsese himself, noting that the man who gave the world The Departed, Cape Fear, The Aviator, and Goodfellas is capable of much more than just a pretty movie (one critic summed up the disappointment as such: “It's a shame that at the height of his popularity, he's using his movie-god strength merely to rattle the cage.”) Leonardo DiCaprio leads an all-star cast that includes Sir Ben Kingsley and Mark Ruffalo. DiCaprio said this week that the movie left him with nightmares, and that the experience was “very traumatic…I went to places and unearthed some things that I didn’t think I was capable of.” Shutter Island opens in theaters tomorrow
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