Lack of good storyline.

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

Up to 1970 lesbians almost always died in the movies. The modern movie maker does not want to blame lesbians, but they have to die. By the way, in Nazifilm there also were a lot of strong women, who had to die at the end. It does not give meaning, why the blonde woman kills her lover just to find another woman, who will make her laundry. When she is killing her girlfriend, you get the impression, that she is heterosexual, but she has to be a lesbian at the end - because the film wants to tell you, that lesbians are mean, stupid and, in a way, helpless. They can get rich, but they have a poor live. That it is dangerous to be a lesbian - very dangerous. In one thing the film is right: it's all about perception. The film is bullshit.

Other reviews on IMDb give an accurate enough summary of the plot. But they seem to have been expecting something like The Usual Suspects. Direct-to-video movies are usually inferior, with respect to production values and acting, than theatrical releases (poor as the latter generally are). So we shift into different critical gear when we watch a non-theatrical release. And by these standards, Shelter Island is not bad at all.The movie is by no means a "lesbian skin flick," and the scenes of (partial) nudity are few and brief in duration. The story line is entirely coherent, and the twists -some maybe predictable, some not- are quite entertaining. The acting is far above average for the kind of film we are talking about. Ally Sheedy puts more into her character than the writing would suggest, and in fact all the actors acquit themselves more than competently.Shelter Island moves along at a brisk pace, is snappily photographed and offers a few fun twists. This is what you'd call "a good popcorn movie." The movie gets 8 out of 10.

This movie is an elementary school production. Everything about it exudes an immaturity and lack of sophistication that can be overwhelming if you aren't expecting it. Still, I suspect some people can enjoy this freshman effort. It all depends on which part of the audience you belong.Are you one of the people obligated to like it, like parents watching their child up on the stage? Are you an Ally Sheedy fan filled with false hope that she's finally making a return to decent film like High Art? Are you a lesbian sexploitation fan anticipatory that maybe this bad sex scene isn't the only one in the film? Or are you that diehard thriller fan who, during the end credits, is still looking for a redeemable moment of tension? If you could potentially be any of the above. stay away.I suspect most of you will be the bored sibling in the crowd who was forced into watching this crummy play by a loved one. If this happens to be you, try your best to endure it, and maybe later seek sweet revenge by subjecting this loved one to a bad film you enjoy.And the few of you who might genuinely have a blast with this film, are the teenagers who sneak into the back of the auditorium to make fun of the little kids on-stage. For you guys, this movie is great riffing fodder. A true treat to the MST3K crowd, and only for you can I recommended Shelter Island.

this movie is hideously and unredemably awful. if you want to see softcore lesbian porn with Ally Sheedy (not BreakfastClub!Ally Sheedy, when she was kinda cute in a weird way, but AgingAndReallyCreepilyOver-Aerobicised! Ally Sheedy, no less) and some bitchface blond Brit, and then have a whole movie's worth of lame nonsensical plot crammed into the last 10 minutes, then you'll end up building a little shrine to this movie somewhere in your humble abode. the rest of the human race, and several other organisms who possess more than one cell will absolutely loathe it.don't go see it just for the girl-on-girl sex, either. it's not particularly sexy, and even if any girl-on-girl stuff will get you off, you will at some point see a partially nude Baldwin. check out the photo of Stephen Baldwin on his page here, and you'll understand why you'll have to schedule a trip to your nearest cutlery store in order to purchase a knife to gouge your eyes out. he's got the fug big-time.