Shutter Island

Rating: 4/4 (A mystery guaranteed to take the viewer on a thrilling ride.)

I am always open to a good mystery like Shutter Island. It had me enraptured when I saw it on a recent Emirates flight. Leonardo DiCaprio is a US marshal who arrives at a mysterious prison-hospital on an island to investigate the disappearance of an inmate. Not only is he dogged by the suspicious behaviour of the hospital staff, he is also having nightmares of his murder of a Nazi officer during WWII. His (now dead) wife also starts to appear in his dreams and even daytime hallucinations. His investigation starts to reveal that the hospital is not all what it seems, but is being used to conduct secret tests on the inmates.

Coming in the same year as Inception and starring the same Leonardo DiCaprio, Shutter Island too relies on distortion of reality. Leonardo DiCaprio and Ben Kingsley deliver supreme performances, an Oscar for either would not be surprising. Directed by Martin Scorsese, the movie is a fantastic mystery set in dark and rainy conditions on a desolate island. It has a strong plot, tightly told and is a thrill to watch. Shutter Island is an awesome watch guaranteed to take the viewer on a thrilling ride.

The Body

Rating: 3/4 (Cheesy, but interesting)

The Da Vinci Code is not the first commercial movie to put the Vatican or the origin of Christianity on the pulpit. The Body starring Antonio Banderas and Olivia Williams, released in 2001, also does the same by unearthing the body of Jesus Christ.

The Body is based on the novel of the same name by Richard Sapir. Dr. Sharon (Olivia Williams) is an Israeli archaeologist who discovers a rich man’s tomb while digging inside the city of Jerusalem. The tomb is empty, but a skeleton is found in an adjacent hidden room. The rusty holes in the bones, the markings in the skull of this skeleton and its dating lead her to suspect that this could be the body of Christ. On learning about this discovery, the Vatican sends Father Matt Gutierrez (Antonio Banderas) to Jerusalem to investigate into these findings and find a way to prove that it is not the Christ. For if the body were to be of Christ, that would disprove the resurrection of Christ, on which Christianity is based.

Though Olivia is an agnostic Jew, her fellow countrymen are not. They attack her and Gutierrez for opening up a tomb. Also, the Palestinians get interested in the bones. They believe that by getting their hands on the bones they can gain the upper hand in the Israel-Palestine conflict. Caught in the middle of this, Gutierrez is also forced to question his own faith in God.

The movie presents an interesting premise, but in a slow, controlled manner, unlike the I-cannot-understand-what-is-happening lightning pace of The Da Vinci Code. Antonio Banderas looks young and charming here, but his European accent sounds pretty fake. Olivia Williams is a picture of grace, but is given some ridiculous lines to spout. A lot of the scenes, including the climax are pretty cheesy. But, I loved the background music (of which there is a lot) which sounds exotic and mellow, filled with riffs of the music from the Middle East region. Also, most of the movie is actually shot in Jerusalem, Israel and Middle East regions, which is rare in Hollywood movies. Those city scenes filled with Middle East people, shops, hoardings, signs, furniture, cafes and the general hubbub are fascinating to watch. The Body is a cheesy, but interesting movie.

Runaway Jury

Rating: 3/4 (Full of thrills and twists, a good watch)

Based on a John Grisham novel by the same name, Runaway Jury is a movie based on a legal case. A stockbroker has been shot dead by a disgruntled employee. His widow sues the gun company for selling firearms. The gun company brings in their expert jury consultant Gene Hackman. Fighting for the widow is Dustin Hoffman, who not only wants to win this case, but also use this as a precedent for all gun cases in the country. The gun companies have never lost a case thanks to the Second Amendment of the US Constitution. The stage is set for the trial of the century!

The surprise element is an innocent looking jury member John Cusack. He is a videogame salesman and turns out to be a trickster. He and his accomplice blackmail both the sides for several million dollars to swing the jury to their side. Who pays up? Who wins the case?

I am a sucker for movies in a legal setting and this one was no exception. Good movie with lots of thrilling moments and the trademark John Grisham twist-in-the-tale. Well worth watching.