Where's Don Draper When You Need Him?

It's always sad when a decent piece of art is ruined by incompetent businessmen. Sadly, this has been happening recently regarding the Scorcese pic Shutter Island. (spoiler warning)

I had forgotten about this movie until it showed up in my Netflix queue. Strangely enough, I hadn't heard much about the film since its release, other than that it was pretty good. Scorcese and Dicaprio, so I assumed that was true. And it was, for the most part. The best thing about it was that I knew the plot framework but not the actual details or plot twists. It was unspoiled.

Then came the DVD ad campaign that was inescapable.

The twist ending!
Twist ending!
Twist ending!
You won't believe it!
Who's patient 67?!
Mind blowing!
Did we mention the twist ending?!

I guess they want me to know that the ending is truly mind blowing. I blame M. Night for this. The Sixth Sense was so good and caught everybody by surprise that now all the retarded PR/Marketing people are trying to force that magic down your throat again.

Unfortunately, armed with the knowledge that was in the trailer a person could figure out that "big plot twist" about 15 minutes into the 2 hour movie. I did anyway.

The problem with being told how the end is a compete 180 from the rest of the movie is that while you watch the first 60% of the movie, you know it's bullshit because the trailer told you so. In this case, DiCaprio is a cop trying to solve a case. But we know that can't actually be the case because a big twist is coming so what can it be? There are only about 4 characters in the whole movie, DiCaprio is getting 75% of the screen time so obviously it revolves around him, what could be so mind blowing about a cop investigating a mental hospital. . . . . . Oh yeah, he's actually a patient. The only real suspense was why he was in there in the first place. Which was heady stuff but hardly mind blowing.

This isn't to say the movie isn't any good, it's a solid B movie. I would put it slightly above similar movies like Identity and Frailty** (but behind Sixth Sense) but only because Scorcese makes such a beautiful movie and DiCaprio, Ruffalo and Kingsley all give such good performances. Story wise it's a wash.

It's one thing if some blogger or one of you buddies ruins the twist for you but why is the movie studio trying so hard to be the first in line to ruin it for you? Wouldn't a commercial that said "The new Scorcese pic with DiCaprio, you know you want it." work just as well? Of course it would. The problem is that PR/Ad people assume that everyone not in the biz is a complete moron. They themselves are a devious combination of stupid and liar so they think they can hammer you with the blunt hammer of the obvious and you'll be too stupid to notice that they've given away the climax.

I almost made it to the end without being tainted by this lunacy but all the ads during the Celtics/Lakers games were too much to avoid. By the time I put the disc in the player, I knew it was too late. It's a shame too, the movie was pretty good and would've been better if I wasn't constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop.

** Frailty and Identity are both really good movies and do a far better job of hiding their big twist, which differ substantially from the one in Shutter Island. See these before Shutter Island and you'll be happy you did.