'Shutter Island' poised to shut down the competition

By Sarah Sluis

The only new wide offering on the market, Shutter Island (2,991 theatres), should go straight to the top this weekend, pushed along by equal interest among male and female moviegoers. The longer President's Day weekend is usually followed by larger-than-average drops among returning films, so despite three movies grossing $30 million plus last weekend, only Valentine's Day has an off-chance of besting the latest (but not greatest) work from director Martin Scorsese.

A "Gothic-style psychological thriller," according to Executive Editor Kevin Lally, Shutter Island suffers from "a surfeit of plot ingredients." Leonardo DiCaprio plays a guy investigating a disappearance in an insane asylum, and creepy things are happening. Two options pop up pretty quickly, perhaps even before the lights go down to start the show: Is it possible that the staff is conspiring to make him insane--or is he already insane, and everything is a delusion? It's a ruse that's sustained the whole way through, but grows wearying towards the end. As critic A.O. Scott of the New York Times aptly puts, "...just when the puzzle should accelerate, the picture slows down...[and gives viewers] painstaking exposition of matters that the audience already suspects are completely irrelevant." Still, the movie is beautiful to look at and draws inspiration from great filmmakers, including 40's suspense great Val Lewton.

Four theatres will unveil The Ghost Writer, which will expand over the next two weekends. Director Roman Polanski creates a professional, "well-made thriller that delivers two hours of slick entertainment" according to critic Rex Roberts, but "the movie feels as though it's been plotted by numbers," and the filmmakers include a number of slick contrivances to "coax their story along." With all the publicity from Polanski's imprisonment, as well as a general thumbs-up in the critical community (it's tracking at 78% on Rotten Tomatoes), this movie's opening numbers will be one to watch.

Rounding out the offerings, several small releases will make their way into theatres. The Good Guy, starring Alexis Bledel in a pre-recession love triangle involving Wall Streeters, opens in nine theatres. Happy Tears, about a man (Rip Torn) taking up with a crackhead hussy, much to his daughters' (Demi Moore and Parker Posey) chagrin, opens in 15 theatres. Maybe Torn's drunken bank robbery ("I thought I was in my home") can generate some dollars from people curious to see if he looks soused on-screen? Finally, newbie distributor Paladin releases Blood Done Sign My Name (95 theatres), a civil-rights era drama about violence sparked by the racially motivated murder of a black Vietnam veteran.

On Monday, the mystery of Shutter Island's performance will be solved, The Ghost Writer will have an idea of its prospects in the weeks ahead, and we'll see how Valentine's Day, Percy Jackson, and The Wolfman held on through their second week.