Killers Of The Flower Moon - Beautiful, Poignant, LONG

now you don't need me to tell you that Martin Scorsese is one of the most accomplished and influential directors still working in Hollywood today I mean the man who directed Taxi Driver Rag and bull Good Fellas and Gangs of New York really doesn't need much introduction from anyone least of all me and the fact that he's one of the few high-profile people in the industry to speak out about the gradual destruction of film making by the endless tidal wave of remakes sequels and superhero movies officially makes him a legend in my book so was pretty excited to go see killers of the flower Moon over the weekend there was a lot of Buzz around the movie it was telling an interesting story about a time in American history that doesn't get nearly enough attention these days and let's be honest here with Scorsese being 80 years old and talking more and more frequently about retirement well it might well turn out to be his final film in a year cluttered with unwanted sequels and the drgs of the dying superhero genre something like this was exactly what I was looking for an epic mat sure and reflective period piece with a talented cast made by one of the last great directors still working today and I'd love to be able to tell you that killers of the flower moon really is scorsese's magnum opus the final epic swan song to a storyi career Span in half a century and the uncontested best film of 2023 that would be a bit of a lie though while it's definitely the work of an aour director who cares deeply about the subject matter the cinematography and performances are top-notch from start to finish and the atmosphere of slowly building tension and Dread leaves you mentally and emotionally exhausted by the ends the problem is that the end comes about an hour before this movie actually finishes and instead of providing a satisfying emotional release to everything that's been so laboriously built up over the previous 2 and 1 half hours it just kind of meanders on with no clear sense of where it's going or why the end result is an uncomfortably bloated and slightly self-indulgent film that feels like it was made more for pretentious movie critics and award Seasons rather than normal people who just want an interesting story to chew on and yes I'm very aware that criticizing a director like Scorsese is going to piss off a lot of people so allow me to explain my reasoning here killers of the flower Moon centers around the oage tribe of Native Americans at the turn of the 20th century who are on the verge of Financial and cultural collapse when they happen to discover oil on their reservation the gold of the 20th century within a few short years the tribe become fantastically wealthy living in fancy houses dressing in the latest fashions and driving expensive new cars while white Americans flock to the area to work for them one of which happens to be Ernest buckheart fresh out of the army after fighting in World War I who's come to live with his uncle William hail hail poses as a friend to the O Sage tribe and a bridge between the two cultures but as we soon find out it's nothing but a ruse to gain their trust so that he can steal the rights to their lands to do this he enlists Earnest help to to seduce and marry Molly a daughter of one of the most prominent oage families the fewer relatives between her and The Inheritance the closer hail gets to own in everything and he's perfectly willing to give them a helping hand if they don't die off quickly enough for him what follows is about 2 hours of conspiracy murder lies illegal deals betrayals investigations and growing suspicion as hail and nnest take out one member of the family after another before finally turning their sights on Molly herself but as the the body count Rises and federal investigators start sniffing around Ernest begins to question whose side he's even supposed to be on but will he see the deadly plan through or will he Risk Everything by turning against his dangerous Uncle now when it comes to criticizing this movie we might as well address the elephant in the room right off the bat the run time flower moon is 3 and 1/2 hours long and holy you really start to feel it after the first two I mean Scorsese isn't exactly known for producing tight fast-paced movies these days and it's totally possible to have a film of this length if there's enough plot and character development to justify it but that's the problem there isn't in this case the story isn't a particularly complicated one in fact everything that's depicted on screen is exactly what it appears to be hail's intentions are spelled out right from his first scene ernest's willingness to follow his instructions is never really in doubt and their plan is entirely transparent from start to finish the result is a film that feels more like a documentary than a dramatic narrative and that's a real shame because there's so much potential here movies about the exploitation of Native Americans and the destruction of their culture are nothing new and stories about unscrupulous conmen working their way into the affections of wealthy families are equally well trodden ground but it's not very often that you see both of those elements combined into one film The postor War I America of flower Moon feels fresh and different the wild west is a distant memory and the country is rapidly changing from the land of cowboys and Frontiers into an industrial Powerhouse all of it driven by oil the dramatic potential here is huge but it Fizzles frustratingly rather than explodes what's it like for white men to work as servants and manual laborers for people that they see as inferior how do the older generations of oage feel about their children adopting American Fashions and language what are the implications of exploiting and ravaging their own land for oil money I don't really know because the movie Never explores questions like that instead The Narrative is devoted to slavishly documenting the plot between Ernest and his uncle Co and I don't know man it just feels like kind of a missed opportunity like there's so much more they could have tackled in less time performances are solid at least even if the casting is about as surprising as a Tim Burton movie oh my goodness another Martin scors ezy film starring Leonardo decaprio and Robert dairo what's ever next both men have been doing this for so long that they could practically act in their sleep so there's not much I can say about them apart from the fact that Robert DeNiro is about 40 years older than the character he's supposed to be playing the the Native American actors on the other hand are arguably much more interesting especially lily gladston as Molly who delivers a brilliantly restrained performance struggling with declining Health as her family gets torn apart around her you absolutely feel for the character and to be honest I'd much rather she'd been the protagonist instead of earnest by putting a well-known actor like DiCaprio in the main role it almost subconsciously expects you to see him as the hero when in reality he's unquestionably the villain of the piece that however is not the point of this film the real focus is less about the main characters and their struggles and more about the public attitude towards them the old sage murders weren't well publicized at the time the government was slow to do anything about it and the general public was mostly kept ignorant that it was even happening and that's really what the film is getting at it's hard not to feel anger and frustration as good people get over by murderous conmen ignored by a government that's supposed to help them and had their story conveniently swept under the rug when it was finally over sharing that story and helping people people today to understand just how badly the oage were let down is definitely a worthy goal but I don't think raising awareness of an issue and telling a dramatically satisfying story are mutually exclusive ideas and most importantly I don't think you really need 3 and 1/2 hours to do it now it's always a treat for me to watch a movie made with genuine artistic flare and dedication instead of some cheap hollow corporate product because let's be honest here even Scorsese at his worst is better than most directors today at their bests But ultimately flower Moon turned out to be a slightly disappointing and frustrating experience because I know that with a slightly more focused script and Tighter editing it could have been something truly great as it stands it'll probably be remembered as a well-intentioned but flawed creation held back from its full potential by a director who just doesn't know when to end his own story speaking of which I think it's about time for me to piss off so that's all I've got for today go away now

Channel: The Critical Drinker

Views: 694,620

Keywords: critical drinker, review, funny, best, leonardo dicaprio

Id: Anu1rGreW3k

Length: 7min 56sec (476 seconds)

Published: Tue Oct 24 2023