Shutter Island

On the eponymous island of Martin Scorsese’s new movie, the patients and inmates have taken charge of the asylum, or so it may seem. That sounds like more of a spoiler than it really is, but it does catch some of the bad news emerging from this lavishly furnished venture into convolutedly spooky entertainment. The flimsiness of the story, drawn from a Dennis Lehane novel, seems magnified by the elaborately stylish presentation. The basic story premise has a queasily agitated-looking fellow called Teddy (Leonardo DiCaprio) arriving at the portentous-looking island prison/asylum with a partner named Chuck (Mark Ruffalo). They flash federal agent credentials and announce they’ve come to investigate the sudden and inexplicable disappearance of one Rachel Solando, an inmate convicted of murdering her own children. By the time the ghost of Teddy’s dead wife starts turning up, it’s evident that something really crazy is going on. And the movie keeps compounding things. When all is said and done, the audience most likely to find real rewards here is one that can fall back on a sturdy appetite for cinephile parlor games. Feather River Cinemas, Paradise Cinema 7 and Tinseltown. Rated R