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This is a good movie, but unfortunately not a great movie.  It never gets quite as creepy as the trailers would lead you to believe, but still worth seeing.

For me, the major drawback was I kept thinking, "Hmmmm . . . I've seen this all before . . . more than once."  So, it isn't very original, but it's saved by a solid performances by Leonardo DiCaprio, Ben Kingsley, and Max von Sydow,  as well as the usual top-notch direction by Martin Scorsese.

This won't win a Best Picture Oscar . . . probably won't even be nominated unless they have 10 nominees again next year.  But I suspect it will grab a few other Oscars . . . maybe supporting actor for Kingsley and possibly an adapted screenplay win . . . maybe one or two others.

There really isn't any reason to see it on the big screen . . . a DVD viewing at home would be almost as good.  So, I give it a mild recommendation.

   

I'm already set to see it this Friday. I expect to be entertained but not blown away.

This is on my must see list. I haven't always been a fan of Dicaprio but have warmed to him recently. I absolutely love Kingsley.  :teddyr:

Not bad.  A few questions remained unanswered, but overall decent viewing, never boring.  The denouement is no real surprise.  Good acting.

Hehe, I saw this....  But I was with my girlfriend, and well, we weren't exactly watching the movie....  :wink:

SPazzo: you dog!

Actually, I'm glad Burgo lowered my expectations.  I ended up liking it a lot.  Great atmosphere, some nicely spooky dream/flashback sequences, DiCaprio was very good.  I guessed the twist early on, but it didn't ruin the movie for me.  I'd give it 4/5, my favorite 2010 release so far!   

SPazzo, I'm gonna tell your mother! :buggedout: :bouncegiggle:

I can't speak of this movie without dropping a few spoilers, so consider this...


SPOILER SPACE


MORE SPOILER SPACE


I thought it was OK. The biggest problem I had is that I could tell what was going on from the very beginning. Yep, it's one of those "films which try to mess with your head" by presenting a series of events and then screaming in the last minute: "It was all a lie!!! This is what really happened!!!". A part of me hated watching Scorsese playing such a wasted trick, but still he managed to be elegant. Rather than trying to pass everything before the end as realistic, he seems to enjoy the freedom of not having to pretend it is. Hence the weird editing tricks, the dream-like quality of many moments or the strange dialogue. And the epilogue packs a couple of well hidden punches. I enjoyed Ruffalo playing his role in a different way than during the rest of the movie (arguably, it was a different person), and DiCaprio's final decision is both sad and logical at the same time.

So, it may be a minor Scorsese, but still a hell better than "The aviator" or "The departed". If you ask me, Scorsese has never been the same man since "Gangs of New York". I miss that intensity.

I agree with you for the most part Neville, except that I liked The Departed, and thought it was nearly flawless except for the casting of Jack Nicholson. That was a mistake. I also liked The Aviator, but far from his best film. For me, unless he proves me wrong in the future, Goodfellas will always be his high-water-mark.

My personal favorite is still "Casino". It's very over the top, but great.

Love that one as well. The man is a badass, I don't think anyone can deny his body of work. Some may argue he is branching out a bit too much, but I think he is managing okay, but not great. There was a bit of joke a couple of years ago on the she Curb Your Enthusiasm where Larry David was cast as a jewish mafia boss in a Scorcese film. I thought that was a pretty good gag, since he seems to be branching away from the Italian-American experience, having done a couple of films on the Irish-American experience. I thought it was funny, anyway.

"Curb yuour enthusiasm"... I need to watch that show, everybody keeps sayting it's hysterical.

I realized that this movie will going to be good but not super hit. My favorite hero Leonardo DiCaprio is there but that is not enough for the success of a film. There also need a good director and the story line.  :smile:

You'll either love it or hate it. I find there's never any in-between, EVER. Trust me, I know plenty of people who can't stand the show. I think it's genius, probably because I have my share of "Larry David moments" in my life.

Just saw it last night. Quite a good creepy type atmosphere to the film. Overall quite enjoyable - but the whole end twist wasn't unexpected.

Oh yes, and Luchi - it has Martin Scorsese as director - so it does have a good director.

Saw it tonight, and I liked it too.  Little confusing at times, but definately kept your interest.  Figured things out pretty early on, but liked the "additional" twist on the ending. 

 :bouncegiggle: :bouncegiggle:

I watched this one on DVD tonight, and I wound up being very disappointed.  It just moved a little too slow for me.  Some of that may have been due to the fact that I was VERY sleepy and having a hard time focusing, but the movie just kept losing me . . . it might be better on a subsequent viewing.

The movie was beautiful, but the twist is officially overused. In fact, I was hoping the twist wouldn't be the one we were all suspecting, so much so that when it came, as expected, I felt insulted.

Watched this the other day and was absolutely riveted.  I was pretty sure I knew what was going on but not 100% and had to watch it to the end.
Awesome flick!   :smile:   :thumbup:

DiCaprio is one of my favorite actors and this was one of his best performances.

4 out of 4 stars.

Thats how I felt.
I really wanted it to be something smarter. Still, it was well directed and had good perfomances.

3.5/5

I couldn't overcome that feeling, either. At least Scorsese didn't try to cheat the viewer by presenting the story in a realistic fashion.

How many truly new twists are there?  I haven't seen a movie with a twist ending that truly surprised me in years and years.  With every new thriller you watch, you get more and more immune to twist endings. 

SPOILERS**


The "you are the crazy one" was not a surprise at all but I was surprised that he pretended that he was still crazy so they would lobotomize him and he could forget again. Very sad.

It wasn't 'the twist' originality that bothered me.
Its that I knew about it.

The Others is a great example of using a twist we all know but keeping it hidden behind other mysteries. Another Example is Fight Club, we've seen this tale told before, however the story didn't make us realise this until the end.

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It wasn't 'the twist' originality that bothered me.
Its that I knew about it.
 
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Yeah, that's what's been preventing me from actually watching this.  I've read the book so I know already how it's going to go down (and I get the impression from this board that it's pretty easy to guess anyway).  On the other hand I enjoyed the book a lot and I like the talent involved in this movie so I'm debating whether it's worth my time regardless.

You should go see it.
Its a very well made film.

I'm guessing the book has lots of twists and turns so you didn't realise what was going on till the end.
This film, however, I found was kinda obvious. I think it was Leo's performance that gave it away. Its a fun ride, but a long way from being as good as the critics claim.

I wanted to feel the world was falling apart for Leo as the film reached its climax, but I never felt it was all there from the start.

I thought "The Departed" was a hell of a film. Scorsese was really at the top of his game with that one.

Same warning: SPOILERS abound. (Well, sort of.)

I read "Shutter Island" on a plane many years ago. Dennis Lehane is one of my favorite writers, for the kind of fiction he writes.

I remember being slightly disappointed with the "twist." Not because it was bad, but the whole book boils down to the twist, rendering the rest superfluous. The movie couldn't avoid the same fate.

I liked it though. Very atmospheric. It was also interesting to see Scorsese, who generally traffics in gritty realism, try his hand at surrealism. So it doesn't completely work. I liked it.

Of course, it's easy to make things seem spooky and portentous when you provide a deep bass boom as a backdrop for every scene.