Dennis Lehane Talks Shutter Island Ending

Shutter Island is the first novel by Dennis Lehane I’ve ever read and I loved every page of his deftly crafted thriller. I haven’t read Mystic River or Gone Baby Gone, but I enjoyed both movies immensely and my love of those two films actually prompted me to give Lehane’s writing a chance. After giving snaps and a circle to Shutter Island, I picked up Any Given Day and it’s waiting patiently on my bookshelf. As soon as I finish Stephen King’s Under the Dome (sometime in 2012 probably), I’ll give it a whirl. I’ll also be wondering if Any Given Day has a surprise ending. Fans of Lehane can see a pattern now, especially with the three works I mentioned above.  They all have a juicy WTF finale, a revelation or realization that leaves most readers slackjawed and wondering how they missed the clues.

This brings me back around to Shutter Island. Fans of the book were probably relatively pleased with Martin Scorsese’s celluloid adaptation. I gave Shutter Island a solid B and felt it was a virtual step-by-step translation from page to screen. Many critics and patrons have cried foul at the films twist ending, but those points miss the point. It’s not gimmicky. It’s not cheap. It’s not thrown in by mistake for convenience.  The ending is connected to the soul of the book and is supported by immense character study and depth. Perhaps that is why it isn’t cheap and tawdry.

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Movie Review: Shutter Island

There’s something mesmerizing about Martin Scorsese and the answer as to what finally dawned on me while watching him accept the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the Golden Globes almost a month ago. No, it’s not his furry caterpillar eyebrows tucked behind his bold, thick-framed glasses, nor is it his infectiously happy speech and big-toothed grandpa grin. To be precise, it’s his absolute and lasting love of all things cinema, which was unmistakable as I listened to his gracious remarks after receiving the prestigious award from the Hollywood Foreign Press.

Don’t believe me? Consider Scorsese’s 64 Oscar nominations and 15 wins (along with 51 Golden Globe nominations and 9 wins) over the last 42 years and show me another director with the similar accolades who isn’t considered one of the greatest of all-time. Add to Scorsese’s resume his romance with film history and film preservation and it’s easy to see the pure love and craftsmanship he saturates in each and every movie he directs. Nothing could be truer of his newest picture, Shutter Island, faithfully adapted from the 2003 novel of the same name by Dennis Lehane, who is also the brains behind Gone Baby Gone and Mystic River (made into fantastic movies by Ben Affleck and Clint Eastwood, respectively).

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Rating the 2010 Super Bowl Trailers

Congratulations to the New Orleans Saints on winning Super Bowl XLIV in what may have been the most boring NFL championship since, well, the last time the Indianapolis Colts went to the Super Bowl in 2007. And while I love football as much as the next dude, I won’t lie – I anticipate the commercial breaks in the hope I’ll see some genius advertising or some phenomenal movie preview.

This year’s commercials and trailers were ho-hum, except for the Google “Search On” ad (who thought you could tell a love story using a search engine in less than a minute?), the Doritos “House Rules” commercial and the Careerbuilder.com “Casual Friday” spot, the rest were either bizarre, unfunny or beyond stale (Bud Light, I’m talking to you).  Even more glaring was the absence of trailers for Iron Man 2, The A-Team, Clash of the Titans, Toy Story 3, Shrek Forever After, Despicable Me and Tron: Legacy.

Here’s a rundown of the movie trailers shown during Super Bowl XLIV. Click the movie name to watch the preview.

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Paramount Pictures Explains Shutter Island Move

I was reaaaaaalllly looking forward to Martin Scorsese’s new film, Shutter Island, this October and cried salty, bitter tears when Paramount Pictures announced last week they were moving the picture’s release date to February 19, 2010. Brad Grey, chairman and CEO of Paramount Pictures released the following statement today:

Our 2009 slate was greenlit in a very different economic climate and as
a result we must remain flexible and willing to recalibrate and adapt to
a changing environment.  This is a situation facing every single studio
as we all work through the financial pressures associated with the
broader downturn. Like every business, we must make difficult choices to
maximize our overall success and to best manage Paramount’s business in
a way that serves Viacom and its shareholders, while providing the film
with every possible chance to succeed both creatively and financially.

Martin Scorsese is not just one of the world’s most significant
filmmakers, but also a personal friend. Following a highly successful
2009, we have every confidence that Shutter Island is a great anchor to
lead off our 2010 slate and the shift in date is the best decision for
the film, the studio and ultimately Viacom.

You know what I say to all that? I say bah! Downturn? Recalibrate? This coming from a studio that secured three legitimate summer blockbusters in Star Trek ($256 M), Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen ($398 M), and G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra ($120 M), as well as an overall gross of $1.3 billion so far in 2009. I just have a hard time thinking the studio’s purported financial issues have anything to do with the release date of, what seems to me, a movie marketed, aligned and engineered for awards season. We’re not talking about Harry Potter or Twilight and moving a film to a more profitable release weekend. In fact, I’d bet two things will happen: One, Shutter Island won’t make any more or less come February 19 than it would opening on October 2. Two, when the 2010 awards seasons are afoot, it’s going to be hard to generate buzz for a movie released nearly a year before.

Or, I could be completely full of poop and Shutter Island just sucks. But really? Scorsese, DiCaprio, Ruffalo, plus a horde of actors and actresses whose names you don’t know, but who you love to watch every time they play a bit part in any movie. Yeeeeeah. I don’t buy it.

Scorsese’s Shutter Island = A New Pair of Underpants

Oh my oh my oh my. Based on the trailer for “Shutter Island,” it would seem Martin Scorsese has put together another fantastic film starring Leonardo DiCaprio. The trailer makes me think the movie is a mixed bag of drama, with a slight lean towards suspense and terror. It’s based on a 2003 Dennis Lehane novel (“Gone Baby Gone”) about two U.S. marshals investigating the disappearance of a patient at a mental institution on a remote island. The film opens on October 2, 2009. Check out the trailer below and let me know what you think.