Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of The Flower Moon,” which is based on the book written by David Grann, is a true story that takes place in Oklahoma in the early 1900s.
The Osage tribe is an oil-rich community that suffers from generational diabetes and prospers from wealth, until a detrimental conflict overtakes them. Ernest Burkhart, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, and his uncle William Hale, played by Robert De Niro, are a part of a greedy family whose goal is to marry into the Osage bloodline and take their oil money, killing them off one by one while doing so. This scheme leads to more than 60 Osage deaths as Ernest and William rise to the top without any suspicion.
The acting in this movie is spectacular, as expected with the two acting legends in Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro. Lily Gladstone also gives a great performance as Mollie Burkhart, Ernest’s wife.
The story has a great foundation and, like the book, represents a factual historic event. The pacing and writing, however, leave much to be desired in this marathon of a three hour thirty minute movie. Although the first half of the movie had time flying by, the movie started slowing down by the two-hour mark.
The brief, yet fulfilling, action scenes keep you glued to the screen and waiting for the next murder.
With that being said, the dialogue scenes drag on throughout, leaving you waiting for the story to progress. When you have 5-8 minute long dialogue scenes with little character development, it’s hard to stay invested.
Although the consensus of opinions online say that the pacing is the biggest weakness of the movie, freshman Carter Chambless thinks the opposite.
“I thought it was edited really well, which I thought helped with the pacing and made it not feel like a 3 hour movie,” said Chambless.
Besides the controversial run time, it’s an enjoyable watch. Martin Scorsese’s ability to model historic events is incredible and he ultimately portrays this one very well. Quality cinema is on the rise as we continue to see enjoyable movies come to the theater in 2023.
