I would never criticize Martin Scorsese’s movies as bad, but I have to admit I rarely like them. His grim and gritty portrayals of life and the human condition may be hard to watch, but they are always marvelously well-constructed.

In the case of “Shutter Island,” his most recent work based on the novel of the same name by Dennis Lehane, he has also made a film that’s genuinely disturbing and intermittently compelling.

“Shutter Island” is the tale of Teddy Daniels, a federal marshal sent to the Ashecliffe Insane Asylum for violent offenders. A patient has escaped without a trace, but from the moment Daniels arrives, there’s something not quite right with the island itself.

All of the staff are on edge and hesitant to talk to Daniels or his partner, and the audience soon finds out that Daniels has his own reasons for accepting the case. The success of the story relies on a somewhat contrived narrative trick, but the characters and situations are expertly crafted and the mystery of just who pulls the strings at the mental institute never lost me even as it unspooled at a leisurely pace.

Scorsese put the opening doom and gloom on thickly, but not so much as to distract from the experience. Watching the film is a 2.5 hour endurance contest with few cheap jump scares and an atmosphere that, while not as unnerving as New York in “Taxi Driver,” had me wringing my hands and feeling the grit of the institution and the warped people it held.

The acting is superb, with another compelling performance from Lenardo DiCaprio. Whatever the chemistry between DiCaprio and Scorsese is, it clearly turns out great material [whatever the surrounding film may do to tarnish that performance].

There’s a dualistic, twisted nature to most of the characters in the film that plays in wonderfully to the film’s themes of identity and how we retaliate and yet blame authority for our misery. Ben Kingly is finally given a chance to shine in a serious role, and his character’s interplay with DiCaprio’s is one of the best elements of the film.

“Shutter Island” didn’t grab me violently and compel me the way “Taxi Driver” did, but it’s not one of Scorsese’s weaker films. It’s a memorable, though obtuse, movie.

The theme is a strong one, but the creepshow nature of the story seemed at times to be designed as a distraction to the weaker narrative elements in the film. If you enjoy movies as an art form, “Shutter Island” is certainly worth a watch. Scorsese turns out well-constructed cinema even when the work is mediocre by his own standards.

Be aware that the film doesn’t just run long, it takes its sweet time getting there. As far as the resolution of the film, all I can offer is the cop out explanation that each viewer must decide whether the conclusion fits the preceding story or not.

At the very least, you get one hell of an effective mind-bending psychological drama as told by a masterful director.

That’s enough for me.

Alexander Hutchins is a junior in mass communications.