Driving Miss Burkhart

Scorsese better live till 120 to make so more 'pictures'

Killers of the Flower Moon comes from legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese and is based on a 2017 nonfiction book of the same name. It stars familiar Scorsese collaborators Leonardo DiCaprio as a dimwitted ex-military cook that falls in love with Lily Gladstone’s Mollie. There’s also Robert De Niro and Jesse Plemons to round out the most notable supporting cast.

Having read the book this is based on there is quite a bit of difference between those two versions. The Novel was non-fiction, of course, so it mostly detailed the uncovering of the murders and framed Jesse Plemons’ FBI agent Tom White as a bigger player. Additionally, Gladstone’s Mollie is really not in this film that much. Which I don’t remember being the case in the book.

At the front end center - in very typical Scorsese fashion - is the rise and fall of some sort of crime collective that pulls a scheme. Additionally, the looming threat of greedy white businessmen hungry for black gold creates all sorts of troubles for the Osage people.
As more and more of them turn up dead, often in very suspicious circumstances, there is no one actually investigating these murders.

For the majority of the film, we get to see these horrible acts of violence being committed in the most casual, pragmatic way imaginable. 

There are some great supporting performances that especially shine in the comedic beats of the story - there’s actually way more of them than you’d expect. Because the dialogue is incredibly well put together and brought to life by the great talent in front of the camera.

DiCaprio gets A LOT to do here and he’s giving it his all, which sometimes felt a bit too much for his character, but I can’t go into that further without giving spoilers away. De Niro is great as a charismatic authority and Jesse Plemons is honestly not given many moments to shine by himself. There seems to be a very positive response to Lily Gladstone after the premiere here in Cannes, but I wasn’t really a fan of her performance.
There’s a Brendan Fraser cameo that is quite bad but ultimately there’s not a ton to complain about on that level.

AppleTV+ is known for its clean look and Killers of the Flower Moon is no exception here as well. The Production & Costume design is great as well paired with equally excellent editing that made this film seems shorter than it is. Which is almost 3.5 hours that, yes, you can feel but is ultimately worth the stay.

Scorsese recently said in an interview: “I’m Old. I Want to Tell Stories, But There’s No More Time” and I really hope this man gets to tell a couple more stories and make some pictures.
Because this film proves he still has got it just like he did 40 years ago.