#58: KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON

Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro and Lily Gladstone, Jessie Plemons and an impressive ensemble cast that includes John Lithgow and Brendan Fraiser. Written by Eric Roth and Martin Scorsese. Directed by Martin Scorsese. Budget $200 million. Running time 206 minutes.

Based on the Oklahoma murders that occurred in the Osage Nation during the 1920s when oil was discovered on tribal land and the Osage nation became incredibly wealthy which in turn drew an endless army of greedy white bastards, like a moths to flame, eager to exploit the first nation people even if it means murdering entire families to realise that ambition. DiCaprio plays Ernest Burkhart, a WWI veteran who returns to Oklahoma to work for his uncle William King Hale (Robert De Niro) as a taxi driver who seemingly falls in love with Mollie Burkhart (Lily Gladstone). The film follows Ernest, for the most part, and a vast cast of unique-faced delinquents as they murder their way through scores of innocent Osage people all in the pursuit of wealth before the fledgling FBI arrive to investigate the murders and bring some of the killers and masterminds to justice.

Beautiful to look at, an amazing cast, brilliantly directed and acted, and art-directed to perfection. This is an impressively mounted film that is nevertheless emotionally flatter than a Findus Crispy Pancake. With no dramatic highs, or lows, no satisfying emotional core or even a gripping plot or structure like Casino or Goodfellas. It's a film that just methodically plods from plot A to plot B with nothing intriguing or exhilarating to spice things up. Banal crimes and murders are committed without drama or fanfare, like in previous Scorsese films, they just happen. Characters go through no dramatic arcs, unless being alive one minute and then dead the next can be seen as an arc.  

This film is planted firmly in the Gangs of New York territory in terms of being a fantastically researched and mounted film, but lacking anything resembling a satisfying dramatic arc. While both DiCaprio and DeNiro are superb, with the later bringing a power to his performance that's not been seen for a very long time, you find yourself stumbling out of the cinema, bleary eyed, three hours and 26 minutes later feeling subdued and a little deflated, wishing this had just been been a bit better and a lot shorter. 

The trailer for this presents the film in an entirely different way from the finished film, subtly implying that Leo's character is the hero of the film desperately trying to save his wife from the murderous intentions of his evil uncle by going full vengeful vigilante. That might have been a more interesting, or at least more exciting film that this, and sadly I can't imagine myself wanting to return to this in years to come. 

That said, considering that this film was written and directed by a man almost in his 82nd year is deeply impressive, Scorsese has lost none of his scope and ambition, just, perhaps, his bite.

8/10