Movie Review: "Killers of the Flower Moon"

Since I first became aware of this movie in the Spring, and since I read David Grann's  book (see comments on that HERE) in July, I have been eagerly anticipating seeing the Martin Scorsese epic, "Killers of the Flower Moon."  So much so, that Linda and I took in a 9:30 AM showing of the movie on opening day yesterday.  We were not disappointed.

Not only do you get Scorsese directing, but you get performances by Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio, and an amazing performance by native American actress Lily Gladstone.  You get a sweeping story of greed, murder, and genocide in Oklahoma in the years following World War I.   And you get a movie with some absolutely stunning and breathtaking visuals, such as...

• A pull away overhead scene at the beginning of the movie of the working oil fields on the Osage land as DiCaprio drives into town from the train station.
• Scenes of chaos and rowdiness on the streets of Fairfax, OK as oil workers and Osage natives intermingle along the dirt streets with both horses and automobiles.
• An Osage wedding ceremony.
• An amazing final scene that I just don't quite know how to describe.

What you don't get, and this might surprise you considering the Scorsese/De Niro track record, is a lot of violent, bloody shoot-ups, although you do see people getting killed.  This is not "Goodfellas Goes to Oklahoma."

The story is told with the marriage of Ernest and Mollie (DiCaprio and Gladstone) as the centerpiece, and the manipulation of Di Niro's William Hale, as he pulls the strings and sets into motion his insidious plot to obtain the oil rights, rightfully owned by the Osage Indians, through marriage and murder.  (It would be too easy and almost cheap to characterize De Niro as a Godfather-like figure, so I won't do it.  Even though I just did.)   The movie is, in fact, at times leisurely and slow paced, not at all what I expected, but that didn't mean the the 3 hour and 26 minute run time dragged by at an interminable pace.  I didn't think that there was any wasted moments in the movie. 

You also don't get a police procedural movie here.  Bureau of Investigation agent Tom White (Jesse Plemons) doesn't show up until about the two hour mark and is almost a minor character.  I might have preferred seeing more of the detective work that went into the solving of the crimes, but that's just me, and it is a minor quibble considering the scope of the entire movie.

As the movie was drawing to a conclusion, I was expecting that we would get a "whatever-became-of" coda to the film with printed words on title cards before the credits began.  Well, Scorsese gave us a coda, alright, but it was done differently than anything that I have ever seen in a movie.  I'll give no spoiler here, but it was terrific.

Here is what I am expecting to see come Oscar time.  Nominations for....

• Best Picture
• Scorsese for both Directing and Screenplay (along with writing partner Eric Roth)
• Acting nominations for De Niro, DiCaprio, and Gladstone
• Rodrigo Prieto for Cinematography 

And there will probably be others.

A word about Martin Scorsese.   I don't have to list all of his great movies, do I?  If you like movies, you know who Martin Scorsese is.  On a podcast I listened to this week, critic Oliver Jones mentioned that Scorsese will turn 81 years old next month.  We have no reason to suspect that he is not in good health, but still, at age 81, who knows how many great movies he has left in him, so take the opportunity to seek out this one and enjoy and appreciate it to the fullest.

DiCaprio, Gladstone, and De Niro with Scorsese

Perhaps the best review came form Linda late last night when she said "I can't stop thinking about that movie."

Four Stars from The Grandstander.