10/21/23 - Killers of the Flower Moon (2023) - 5+/10

I appreciate parts of it and I respect Scorsese’s aim in telling some of this story and highlighting the Osage peoples’ culture but it didn’t work for me as a fully engaging, enjoyable and effective film. I didn’t hate Flowers or even think it was bad, but I can’t must anything more than some technical respect and some historical admiration, because I just don’t think it worked well enough as a film on-its-own for me to be considered anything above average.

This film lurched from chunk to chunk and scene to scene, leaving the viewing experience jarring and unconnected. It missed out on a driving dramatic narrative that clicked for me. The editing was often odd and the inclusion of shots & elements were wonky for me. There just felt to be a disconnect between admired desire and fruitful final film.

The acting was wonderful though, making it a worthy watch. DiCaprio is tremendous, making a monster likable and letting the physicality less glaring and more charming, especially when it leads to comedy. Gladstone is strong but given little license as she is so stoic throughout. That said she caries heft and presence each time she graces the screen. I also loved the sinister side of DeNiro, though I would have appreciated taking the hood off for another scene or two to further highlight the rampant & intrinsic hatred of the whites against the Osage peoples.

Having read the book I found the movie’s aim and manner unsavory. I HATE making Burkhart the empathetic protagonist, as opposed to the lawman White and his search for the murderous truth. The book delivers real drive and intrigue, solving the mystery while highlighting a more fascinating cast of characters (the Federal investigators), but the film peters along in an unsympathetic jalopy towards an obvious end unsatisfying conclusion. The film is also way too long and you feel every bit of that length. If it had structured things differently, highlighted other sections with a bit of focused breathing, it could have made a great 5 part series…alas it just begs for streamlining instead. Plemons doesn’t come into the film until maybe the last 40 min and doesn’t get enough exposure, which is a definitive choice but I think the wrong one for what this film could have been.

Perhaps I read the book too recently and knowing the people, places and events, didn’t find Roth’s & Scorsese’s narrative interpretation thrilling or particularly captivating. Maybe it’s a Marty thing. I’ve only really enjoyed and appreciated 2 Scorsese films since 1996. He is a cinematic icon, both for what he has done behind the camera and for the medium, but I struggle to decipher consistent style or appreciation for his tempo & architecture… Maybe his work just isn’t for me.

It’s not just the melancholic feeling I had leaving that theater, it’s that the whole felt disjointed, loose and disappointing for 3.5 hrs. Again, it’s not a poor film but I saw no masterpiece.