The newest epic film from Martin Scorsese was widely released this weekend, based on a true story. The film is entitled Killers of the Flower Moon and it is set just after World War I in Oklahoma and featured the Osage nation.

The Indians of the Osage nation discovered that there was oil beneath their land and they became incredibly wealthy. However, this led to a series of deaths and murders of the Osage people in an attempt to get the land and oil money away from them.

Ernest Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio) returned from the war to go work for his uncle, William “King” Hale (Robert DeNiro). He met up with one of the Osage Indians from the family that owned the land, Mollie (Lily Gladstone), fell for her and married her. There was some inkling early in the film that perhaps he had married her for the oil.

As their life together progressed, other members of her family started dying off in suspicious manners. It became clear that Hale had been calling the shots and had been using Ernest to do his dirty work along with several other men.

I will say that I thought this film was good. I was not as blown away by it as I thought I might be. There are a lot of strong parts of the movie that just have enough problems to keep it from being a masterful film.

One issue is that the film does feel its length at times. Killers of the Flower Moon is nearly three and a half hours long, which is a marathon of a film and it is not brimmed full with action or dramatic moments. It is definitely a slow burn. Even though I think the film works as a slow burn, I do think they could have condensed some of the scenes in the middle to trim off 10-15 minutes and it would be for the film’s benefit.

Another major issue I had is a spoiler so I will have to just touch on it generally. It feels like something that is a creative swing that may work for some people, but that will be a problem for other. I fall into the latter category. This is the conclusion or the wrap up of the story. The way they wrapped up the movie did not work for me at all and I even think it damaged the narrative that had been constructed.

Positives of the film included some excellent acting. Standout performances came from Lily Gladstone, Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert DeNiro. Lily Gladstone has been called the heart of the picture, and I can see why. She does an amazing job as Mollie, a woman suffering form the pain of losing family members while dealing with her own health issues. You could feel for her constantly as she tried to take strength from her marriage, despite her husband being a conflicted a-hole.

That a-hole was Leonardo DiCaprio, who does a really great job playing this conflicted and manipulated man. Truly, I found my own opinions on Ernest to be filled with hatred as he continued to make poor choices in betrayal of his wife and her family all for the money.

This was the best performance of Robert DeNiro has given in years. His portrayal of William Hale is creepy and full of sinister behavior as he manipulates everyone to do what he wants them to do.

The technical aspects of Killers of the Flower Moon was exceptional. The film looked great and the directorial job from Scorsese is awesome.

This movie is good, but not great. Th length can be an issue, but it is a interesting story with some top notch performances.

3.5 stars