[GLDNGUN]

My wife and I went with another couple to see the movie. We had been looking forward to the show for months based upon the previews. A lot of times movies are not as good as the previews, or you know the whole story after seeing a preview. In this case, the movie was even better than the preview. Some people say they knew what was going to happen after seeing the preview, but I certainly didn't. I question whether those people actually understood what happened in the movie, especially at the end.

From the previews, I thought it was going to be half horror/half mystery. I'm no fan of horror movies, so I wasn't looking forward to that; however, the movie was much, much more of a mystery thriller than a horror-type movie, so that was a pleasant surprise.

If you like Hitchcock movies such as Vertigo, you should love this movie. It's very much a "retro" type movie, taking place in the 1950s with a 50s type soundtrack that greatly adds to the haunting, eerie mood. Some were distracted by the score, but I thought it added greatly to the movie's "ambience".

I also think the acting and way the movie was shot was very well done as well. Overall, it's a great movie (IMO) that still has my wife and I talking about it the next day. The weird thing is I've changed my mind a couple of times already on what actually happened but think I've got most of it figured out now except for a minor detail or two. I like movies that take a little thinking and leave a few clues laying around to help you figure it out.

Now, as to the ending...

SPOILER ALERT:

For those of you who have seen the movie, I'd like your thoughts on the movie, especially the ending. My take is that "Teddy, the US Marshall" never existed. Teddy is actually Edward, the guy who came back from the war, suffering PTSD and killed his wife after discovering that she murdered their 3 children. Edward also felt responsible for their deaths as his wife told him she was having mental problems, but he didn't get her help. The mental anguish was too much so his mind created an elaborate delusion in which he was Teddy, not Edward. He was a US Marshall, not the most dangerous inmate at an insane asylum. Since he was the most dangerous inmate that had attacked others on the island, the doctors there determined that they would have no choice but to labatomize him if he didn't "come around" to face reality. In an effort to help him, they played along with his fantasy, providing an elaborate role-playing "game" in which they allowed him to be "Teddy" and do an investigation there with his "partner" named "Chuck", who was actually his shrink on the island. Ultimately, the therapy does work and Edward faces the reality that he is the one responsible for his wife's death, and again he feels responsible for the deaths of his children. He's also told that he snapped out of his delusion 7 months ago, but slipped back into it. He supposedly slips into the delusion once again at the end calling his doctor "Chuck" and pretending they were US Marshals again. The doctor signals that Edward has slipped back into "Teddy" mode again, and the orderlies come to take him away for his labotomy. Right before they get there, Edward says something to the doctor like "Would you rather live as a monster or die a good man?". He then willingly goes with the orderlies as the doctor stands up and yells "Teddy!". To me, Edward's last statement means that he had NOT actually slipped back into his delusion, but was pretending that he had because he would rather be labotomized, in which his memories would be erased and he would no longer have to think about what happened to his family. Again, I find this ending rather thought-provoking. His mind couldn't handle what had happened, so it created a false reality so he could live with himself. The head doctor was intent on helping his patients be as "sane" as possible without the use of drugs and/or medical procedures. Ultimately, the doctor was indeed successful with his role-playing game, but it didn't change the fact that Edward couldn't live with what he had done. So, where as he previously had sub-conciously taken refuge from the truth by creating a mental illusion that he was someone else, he was now making a consious decision to avoid the truth by getting himself labotomized.

Enough from me. I would love to hear what other Freepers thought of the movie. Maybe some of you have completely different takes on it. Maybe I'm the crazy one. LOL

[autumnraine]

Is it as creepy as it seems? I want to find a sitter to go see it myself.

[JoeProBono]

[GiovannaNicoletta]

I saw it last weekend and thought it was excellent!

I thought the ending was brilliant- I'm still not sure that the guy wasn't "set up"...

[robomatik]

Martin Scorsese is a very talented director, but i'll wait for it to come out on dvd though.

[Eccl 10:2]

Just a friendly reminder that every dollar you pay to Hollywood helps to fuel their anti-conservative, anti-Christian agenda.

[sinanju]

So little Leo held up his end?

[hole_n_one]

I saw The Crazies last night.

........then it dawned on me that the TV was on MSNBC.

[atc23]

Correct, My take is that "Teddy" is Edward. Edward killed his wife and went into a psychotic break from reality.

I thought the movie was a B-

I just love Ted Levine and thought his scene was wonderful.

[mom4kittys]

it looks scary.

[SnakeDoctor]

I thought it was a solid Hitchcock-esque thriller. Some of it was predictable, but it had a good ending and a bit of a twist there. Good date movie.

My interpretation of the ending was the same as yours — he chose his fate.

SnakeDoc

[SeaDragon]

My husband and I went to see this movie last week and we thoroughly enjoyed it. I also agree with your assessment on the ending.

Sea

[Bean Counter]

The Missus and I went to see it last week and it was just outstanding. Great suspense movie, and it reminded me of the way the plot went in “The Sixth Sense”, in that it was the very end of the movie before you realize how many clues there were to what was really happening all along...

Definitely a mandatory addition to the Essential Scorsese and the Essential DiCaprio collections.

[GOP Poet]

I agree. I really liked it. Although there was a bit of drag time as the plot shifted and you know what I am talking about those that have seen it. Otherwise. I found it fantastic.

[Dionysius]

Thanks. If I believed some of the reviews, I’d never see this movie. Long ago I weaned myself from allowing egg-headed critics to be my arbiter of taste when choosing a film. Some of the most God-awful wastes of celluloid have been have been given “Two Thumbs Up” by Ebert et al.

[TheMom]

Shutter Island ping.

[starvosan]

The plot has a number of logical inconsistences if ‘Teddy’ really was insane and had been incarcerated on the island for two years—

—Would a doctor who believes in thorazine really believe the ‘talking cure’ could work on someone who is criminally insane?

—Why would have Teddy have been judged insane for killing his wife, after he finds out she just did away with their three kids? Sounds like a crime of passion, not of insanity.

—Is this ‘role-playing’ game scenario even remotely realistic? Certainly nothing like this has ever gone on in a real insane asylum.

—Would they have taken a chance and let their most dangerous patient off the island, even temporarily?

—Wouldn’t ‘Teddy,’ who have presumably been incarcerated in that place for the last two years and was desperate to leave, immediately seize his opportunity and take off in the other direction rather than get back on the boat?

—Wouldn’t Teddy immediately have recognized his new US Marshal partner as his psychiatrist? Wouldn’t he have felt a strong sense of deja vu coming back to the island, and recognized everyone there? Wouldn’t he have figured out that he is carrying around a toy gun?

—Or how about the scene in the crypt, where his partner is telling him that he has been lured to the island after Teddy had started to research the place and suspect wrong doing, in order to do away with a potential whistle blower. Would his psychiatrist have fed his paranioa and delusions like this?

I prefer the origonal plot line, in which they have decided to entrap the snooping federal agent by slowly drugging him and convincing him he is insane.

But you can take everything in this movie two ways.

Like his final statement ‘’Is it better to live as a monster or die as a good man?’’ ‘Live as a monster’ might refer to his status as a convicted murderer living in an insane asylum. ‘Die as a good man’ might refer to the living death of a lobotomy, but having fought for the truth until the end.

[woofie]

Yours was my take also