By Keith Walther | Rose Law Group Reporter
As one of the more anticipated films of the year, “Killers of the Flower Moon” is really good but not great. With epics, pacing is everything and this movie slows to a crawl at times, making the audience feel every minute of the nearly three and a half hour run time. Despite this, the story, which is based on the book of the same name, is incredibly interesting, the cinematography and art direction is stunning, and the acting is in a league of its own.
Set in Oklahoma during the 1920s, “Killers of the Flower Moon” takes audiences on a winding path of greed, romance, crime, and murder that leaves an indelible mark on American history. Ernest Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a veteran recently returned home from World War I to his small town in Oklahoma, where he finds a drastically changed economic dynamic than what he remembered. The Osage tribe happened to discover a wealth of oil on their land, making them extremely wealthy overnight but bringing wolves with it looking to take these riches by any means necessary.
Ernest’s uncle William Hale (Robert De Niro), a powerful cattle rancher and a trusted friend of the Osage tribe, hatches devious plans with his nephew to take this newfound money. Part of this plan is for Ernest to court and wed Mollie (Lily Gladstone), putting him in a position to legally inherit a part of the fortune. One by one, members of the Osage tribe including Mollie’s relatives are murdered to remove potential inheritors from the equation. The newly formed F.B.I. under J. Edgar Hoover sends Tom White (Jesse Plemons) to investigate these murders and insurance fraud schemes. Torn between the fear of his uncle and the love of his wife, Ernest must decide whether to comply with the investigation and reveal all or perpetuate the greedy and grisly plan to its grim conclusion.
This is a fascinatingly dark true story of American crime that is sure to captivate audiences but could have been told in a significantly condensed version. As filmmakers age, there is a tendency for them to get softer when it comes to cutting scenes, and that couldn’t be truer for Martin Scorsese. This is now the third straight film the legendary director has bloated his films with excessive scenes, “Silence” and “The Irishman” being the previous two. “Killers of the Flower Moon” is at least an hour longer than it needed to be with a conclusion that drags to the point that viewers check their watches to see how much more could possibly be left. There is also an excessively dizzying number of character introductions that only act to distract and confuse the audience. This undermines what is otherwise a powerfully sinister plot of American history.
That being said, Scorcese is still a master, committing himself and the entire film crew to protecting the integrity of the story with as accurate of a retelling as possible. His hyper attention to detail carries over to the elaborate set pieces that beautifully demonstrate 1920s Oklahoma. This coupled with incredible cinematography of continuous shots, zoom outs, and poignant closeups effectively place the audience in that period as a witness to its dark secrets. While Scorsese and the film may not be worthy of a Best Director or Best Picture nomination respectively, the cinematography, art direction, and costumes are surely worthy of Oscar consideration.
With a cast that features the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro, you might be surprised to learn that the real star of the film is Lily Gladstone. Raised on a Native American reservation, Lily was in a unique position to draw on her own life experience to provide an authentic performance. She exudes a quiet power that draws the audience in to hang on to her every word. Her knowing looks seem to penetrate characters’ souls, laying them bare to uncover deceit. It’s the kind of performance that makes her an early favorite to not only receive an Oscar nomination for Best Actress, but to easily win the award.
Oscar winner Leonardo DiCaprio (“The Revenant”) has had an illustrious career that should have netted him more Oscars than just the one. He once again delivers a dynamic, multi-faceted performance that may very well yield another acting nomination. His portrayal of a simple-minded soldier who loves money with a borderline gambling addiction that gets caught up in a complex plot of greed and corruption is outstanding, forcing the audience to feel sympathy while also despising his character at the same time.
It’s safe to assume with a Scorsese helmed film, either Leo (7 collaborations) or Robert De Niro (11 collaborations) will be starring in the picture, but having both is a first for the Oscar winning director. The 80-year-old two-time Oscar winner, De Niro, supplies another commanding performance as the puppet master of the criminal plot to kill and steal for the oil money. He eloquently delivers his lines of manipulation that believably convince other characters to do just about anything to achieve his goals. It wouldn’t be surprising to see this living legend earn his ninth Oscar nomination.
Bottom line, don’t buy into the hype of “Killers of the Flower Moon,” it’s certainly worth watching but its slow pacing results in it falling far short of this year’s bar set by “Oppenheimer.” Someone needs to remind Scorsese where the editing room is. Best to wait to stream it at home and watch it over several days.
This movie earns:
