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R | 3h 26m | Western, Murder Mystery | October 20, 2023
Has Hollywood finally acknowledged that it’s largely responsible for America’s Incredible Shrinking Attention Span? Is it trying to atone by lengthening most post-pandemic theatrically released movies from 1.5 to 2 hours? I highly doubt that.
So, I made the mistake of not checking the running time of “Killers of the Flower Moon.” It’ll be 2 hours, but it’s Martin Scorsese; how bad could it be? I thought. At some point, I got more restless than I’ve ever been in a movie theater in my life. I couldn’t check my phone (no WiFi). When I finally stumbled into the lobby, I discovered the movie’s three-and-a-half hours long. Not even the great Scorsese can keep enough tension in it for you not to eventually want to shoot yourself in the head.
But Isn’t It Otherwise Great?
It’s not otherwise great. The music’s good. It’s the late, great Robbie Robertson’s last soundtrack. But though “Killer” is missing the Scorsese hallmark (New York-based mafiosos) it’s nevertheless classic Scorsese. I’ll explain why in a minute.
The film is based on David Grann’s 2017 nonfiction bestseller about a 1920 spate of murders of Native Americans in Oklahoma’s Osage Nation, and the newly founded FBI’s attempt to get to the bottom of it.
Native Americans named months according to phases of nature: Wolf Moon, Snow Moon, Hunter Moon. May is the Flower Moon. The title is an Osage reference to the time of year when vast prairie meadows bloom with purple flowers—which includes the invasive flora that choke and kill the flowers. A brilliant metaphor for the story’s proceedings.
In the early 20th century, the Osage tribe became hugely wealthy when oil deposits were discovered beneath those blooming reservation meadows, after the feds had exited the Osage Nation.
The Osage were targeted by predatory Caucasian interloping grifters, partly because their new money was considered unearned. We’re shown how the societal norm was stood on its head via the black-gold geysers—formerly oppressed tribeswomen swanning around in fine automobiles, with formerly dominant whites working subservient jobs.
DiCaprio and De Niro
The somewhat shockingly moronic dummkopf Ernest Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio utilizing a permanent underbite that screams overly facile actor-choice) is a World War I vet and the nephew of William King Hale (Robert De Niro). He’s also not a good guy. Hale’s a sly Svengali to Burkhart: a politically well-connected cattleman who poses as a devoted friend to the Osage while pulling marionette strings and recruiting local lowlifes (including his nephew) to poison, shoot, or dynamite the natives in order to get their money.
Hale strongly nudges Burkhart to marry an Osage woman in order to inherit her family’s “mineral rights.” Mollie Kyle (the excellent Lily Gladstone, who, though she’s given almost nothing to do, easily runs away with the entire movie—all 3.5 hours of it) is a raven-haired Osage Madonna. She basically lies around sweating and suffering—not just from her diabetes but also from the “cure.” There’s a new drug called insulin, but her sneaky husband intentionally poisons the doses before injecting her.
And that right there is the problem with the entire film. How does a man who’s clearly in love with his wife—slowly and deliberately poison her to death? Granted, he’s pretty stupid—but that unbelievably stupid?
And Mollie’s likewise unbelievable: How’s a highly intelligent woman who’s clearly cognizant of the fact that her no-account husband is gunning for her money—how does she continue to love him even after figuring out he’s trying to kill her?
Complicated
The story is highly complex, involving mineral rights, inheritance laws, and myriads of muddled characters. If nothing else, the movie serves as a history lesson about the destruction of an indigenous culture.
However, the entire affair suggests Hollywood’s current stirring of the racial pot in America, trying to set the races against each other again.
It must be said, the movie is clearly the work of a master director—it sure looks good. However, “Killers” is basically a repeat of every Martin Scorsese mafia movie, except here La Cosa Nostra wear cowboy hats. It’s the prairie mafia. Similarly, DiCaprio’s performance is the same twitchy idiot from “The Wolf of Wall Street” but wearing a Stetson. And, you know, why not, really? Nothing wrong with having a niche. It had huge potential. But why stir the racial pot thusly? And the turgid running time is inexcusable.
Lastly, if you go see “Killers” in the theater, I’d recommend downloading the Runpee app. What’s Runpee? A smartphone app that indicates plot-light sections of films, so app users can hightail it to the bathroom. “Killers of the Flower Moon” will definitely set a new record for recommended “peetimes.”
‘Killers of the Flower Moon’
Director: Martin Scorsese
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Lily Gladstone, Jesse Plemons, Brendan Fraser, John Lithgow
MPAA Rating: R
Running Time: 3 hours, 26 minutes
Release Date: Oct. 20, 2023
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
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