New England-related Movies

Anyone going to see "Shutter Island"?

I read the book when it came out. It's a decent pseudo-Gothic thriller (I'm not a big thriller fan).

Not on the basis of the trailers alone which I have seen over and over. If the reviews speak interestingly of it or if the critics are broadly consistent in praise I will likely try to go.

Robert

my mother in law was an extra in it so i probably will have to go see it, LOL.

Huh. I haven't read the book, just seen previews - which did nothing for me - so I had no idea this was New England-related. I am not a DiCaprio fan, so I will probably skip it, but maybe I'll think about checking out the book. (If it's not too thrilling. I have an active imagination and a tendency towards nightmares. Yes, I'm in my thirties; no I don't want to talk about it.)

>4 upstairsgirl: I'm with you on reading it over watching it, what with the active imagination, and tendency towards screaming when startled.

I recently figured out that although I love/hate to watch zombie movies, I just plain love zombie novels -- revolutionary.

The NYT review of the movie:
http://movies.nytimes.com/2010/02/19/movies/19shutter.html?8dpc

The reviewer interviewed on WBUR liked it, although he said the accents weren't all that great (he particularly noted that the accent of the actress playing DiCaprio's wife was awful). He also noted that it is a story that could have been set anywhere (unlike Lehane's other works).

They also noted it was filmed entirely in the Boston area - in Medfield, Rockport, Pippin Island, Boston Harbor.

Here's a review of the book from Publishers Weekly:

Know this: Lehane's new novel, his first since the highly praised and bestselling Mystic River, carries an ending so shocking yet so faithful to what has come before, that it will go down as one of the most aesthetically right resolutions ever written. But as anyone who has read him knows, Lehane, despite his mastery of the mechanics of suspense, is about much more than twists; here, he's in pursuit of the nature of self-knowledge and self-deception, and the ways in which both can be warped by violence and evil. In summer 1954, two U.S. marshals, protagonist Teddy Daniels and his new partner, Chuck Aule, arrive on Shutter Island, not far from Boston, to investigate the disappearance of patient Rachel Solando from the prison/hospital for the criminally insane that dominates the island. The marshals' digging gets them nowhere fast as they learn of Rachel's apparently miraculous escape past locked doors and myriad guards, and as they encounter roadblocks and lies strewn across their path-most notably by the hospital's chief physician, the enigmatic J. Cawley-and pick up hints of illegal brain surgery performed at the hospital. Then, as a major hurricane bears down on the island, inciting a riot among the insane and cutting off all access to the mainland, they begin to fear for their lives. All of the characters-particularly Teddy, haunted by the tragic death of his wife-are wonderful creations, but no more wonderful than the spot-on dialogue with which Lehane brings them to life and the marvelous prose that enriches the narrative. There are mysteries within mysteries in this novel, some as obvious as the numerical codes that the missing patient leaves behind and which Teddy, a code breaker in WWII, must solve; some as deep as the most profound fears of the human heart. There is no mystery, however, about how good this book is; like Mystic River, it's a tour de force.

While I didn't like this book as well as I enjoyed Mystic River, I agree with what the reviewer says about Lehane being "more than about twists" which is exactly why I'd be more willing to read a thriller by him than anyone else. I am tempted to go see the movie...I think some of the Gothic elements could be really wonderfully done on film (I admit I haven't seen Mystic River yet - would you believe it? But the book was so good I guess I don't feel I have to...besides I know the ending).