Ben Kingsley Joins Scorsese's 'Shutter Island'
Filed under: Drama, Thrillers, Casting, Paramount
He's always a great actor, but Ben Kingsley has a habit lately of working with undeserving directors (e.g. Uwe Boll) and appearing in undeserving movies (e.g. A Sound of Thunder). Give him a great director (Spielberg, Glazer) or even a good one (Attenborough, Levinson) and he shines. So, it's an enormous treat to learn he's finally working with Martin Scorsese, appearing in the newly Oscar-winning director's next film, Shutter Island. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Kingsley (or Sir Ben, as he's typically referred to on set) will play Dr. Cawley, the chief physician at a Massachusetts hospital for the criminally insane who must play host to two U.S. marshals played by Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo. Based on the novel by Dennis Lehane (Mystic River, Gone Baby Gone), the plot follows the marshals as they investigate the disappearance of a mental patient/inmate. While on the case, they experience a hurricane, get stuck on the eponymous island thanks to a riot and of course, "encounter a web of deceit."Best known for being the fourth collaboration between Scorsese and DiCaprio, Shutter Island will also hopefully be known as the movie in which Sir Ben has a Massachusetts accent. As a cranky "enigmatic" doctor, though, he could be from anywhere (and with Kingsley, I truly mean that literally). Actually, this could be a rare Lehane adaptation where none of the main characters have that Boston-area intonation. Regardless, it should be entertaining to watch Kingsley as a slightly villainous physician who performs illegal brain surgery. Picture a cross between Don Logan, his character from Sexy Beast, Cosmo, his character from Sneakers, and Xavier Fitch, from Species. I would add in his loony psychiatrist character from the upcoming The Wackness, but I've only seen one scene and you likely aren't familiar with any of it. Of course, under the masterful direction of Scorsese, Kingsley will probably give us something fresh, like no character of his we've encountered before. I see a fifth Oscar nomination on the horizon.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
12-04-2007 @ 4:35PM
Herb Shayman said...
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I'm a bit bewildered by Chris Campbell's comment. Didn't he see Scorcese's "The Departed"? Leo DiCaprio's Bahston 'southie' accent was on the money, and he didn't grow up in the region like Mark Wahlberg. Although on opposite ends of the country, Leo's Echo Park seedy, drug-infested neighborhood was not unlike Mark's Dorchester area. And looking at Ben Kingsley's body of accented works, if anyone can pull off an authentic and believable accent, it's has to be Sir Ben! Lahane can rest easy.
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12-04-2007 @ 4:35PM
Herb Shayman said...
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I'm a bit bewildered by Chris Campbell's comment. Didn't he see Scorcese's "The Departed"? Leo DiCaprio's Bahston 'southie' accent was on the money, and he didn't grow up in the region like Mark Wahlberg. Although on opposite ends of the country, Leo's Echo Park seedy, drug-infested neighborhood was not unlike Mark's Dorchester area. And looking at Ben Kingsley's body of accented works, if anyone can pull off an authentic and believable accent, it's has to be Sir Ben! Lahane can rest easy.
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12-04-2007 @ 5:47PM
Christopher Campbell said...
I don't understand your complaint. I never said that these actors weren't capable of doing a Boston accent, just that their characters may not call for it.
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12-04-2007 @ 7:35PM
Herb Shayman said...
First of all, that's what I found a bit confusing in the quote from Christopher Campbell's intelligently written article, which I quoted, but was not printed in my comments (not complaints). Both of Dennis Lahane's "Mystic River" and "Gone Baby Gone" adaptations, set in the Boston area, required the specific accents of that region. I, therefore, couldn't understand why "Shutter Island", set in a similar region I presume, would not also require a similar accent. Was I wrong?
Secondly, your abridged quote suggested that this Lahane adaptation could be the rare one where none of the main characters use regional accents. Rare indeed. Just because cranky "enigmatic" Kingsley could be from anywhere? That's thinking outside the Bahstonian box.
I guess the very thought threw me! And led me to believe that you advocated that notion. Upon reflection, I guess that wasn't your intent. Sorry 'bout that.
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12-04-2007 @ 8:03PM
Christopher Campbell said...
Sorry to be confusing, Herb. Thanks for the comments. I guess I just figured that the U.S. Marshalls don't specifically need to be from the area, nor does Kingsley's mad doctor character. I'm sure there will be plenty of Bostonians throughout the movie, though.
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