3 min to read
Killers of the Flower Moon
Was the highly anticipated historical drama from Martin Scorsese worth the watch?
The Great: What really blew me away was the performances of the actors. DiCaprio truly lost himself as Ernest Burkhart, Robert DiNero was incredibly despicable as William Hale, and Lilly Gladstone shined as Molly Burkhart. They all flawlessly portrayed their characters, and they elevated the story being told.
Additionally, the story overall made the movie worth the watch. I wasn’t aware of the story (or book) before watching the movie, and despite that I was still consumed by the story being told. I was unaware of the complete injustices made towards the Osage in the 20’s, and seeing how they were all disrespected, beat, and killed just for their wealth. I think it is definitely a story to be told.
What I also loved about the movie is how it showed the power of manipulation. Earnest truly respected the authority and power his uncle had, and he would literally do anything. Even though Earnest did love his wife, he was still able to be swayed by his uncle to do awful things to both his wife and his family. While at the beginning it felt that Earnest was doing what his uncle wanted because he actually agreed with him, but by the end, even though he didn’t want listen or do what his uncle wanted him to do, he was scared of what would happen if he didn’t do it. Seeing that transformation happen over time really cemented in my mind how well the story was told as a whole.
The Meh: While not bad, having Molly Burkart being the main character instead of Earnest would have been a much better idea. One of the main purposes of the movie was to show how the Osage were truly screwed by Americans at that time, but only showing the movie from Earnest’s perspective about the whole situation seems antiquated. If you saw the murders, the stealing, and all of the other criminal activity from the perspective of the Osage (Molly’s perspective), we could have had a better idea of what the people as a whole were going through. We would have been able to feel the pain her people felt at that time even more.
Additionally, since Molly was in the dark about the whole situation, there was a missed opportunity to keep the audience in the dark about all of (or a significant portion of) what Earnest had done. Imagine if at a trial, you as the audience didn’t know the full extent of what Earnest had done. If they could have framed the scene from Molly’s perspective, we could have seen how devastated she was about the atrocities her husband had just admitted to. And after the trial when she confronts him about the poison in the insulin, you finally would have been able to see her reach her breaking point, truly showing the tragic nature of what had happened to Molly, her family, and her people. Even her husband, whom she loved, had turned her back on her, tried to kill her, and was just exploiting her.
The Bad: While I don’t mind a long movie, pacing is key to making a long movie be bearable. Compared to other historical films, like Oppenheimer, Killers of the Flower Moon is not fast paced, and the 3.5 hour run time feels like a long 3.5 hours. Martin Scorsese really wanted to show every detail of the story, but some of the details are were unnecessary or stretched out too long. I think there was around 30ish minutes that could have been cut or sped up, and the film overall wouldn’t have been negatively affected
I also think the writing for Brendan Fraser’s character was not so great. Fraser did his best for what was given, but I think Scorsese missed the mark with his direction.
Summary: This is definitely one of the better movies of 2023. It’s not perfect by any means, but everything that is great about the film truly shine. It’s one of those movies I don’t think I’ll watch for another 10+ years, but the story of what happened to the Osage will stick with me for years.
Rating: 4.25/5
Comments