Killers of the Flower Moon

How did Killers of the Flower Moon cost $200 million? The Irishman costing $159 million is understandable given all the digital makeup work. But how did Martin Scorsese's new film cost that much?

Hey, Baxter. How much should it have cost?

$100 million, perhaps? Maybe there's a bunch of visual effects I don't know about. It doesn't look that expensive.

Let's hurry up and discuss the film.

OK.

Scorsese and co-writer Eric Roth adapted David Grann's non-fiction book. Their story begins when the Osage Nation hits it big after they strike Oil on their Oklahoma reservation. How big? They become the wealthiest people per capita in the U.S. The evil Cattle Baron William "King" Hale (Robert DeNiro) hatches a plot to take their wealth for himself. Exploiting a law that requires white "guardians" to manage Osage wealth, he'll just have his goons kill the wealthiest for their headrights. And then, profit.

A major part of it involves his nephews, Byron (Scott Shepherd) and Ernest Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio). Ernest and Byron marry Mollie (Lily Gladstone) and Anna (Cara Jade Myers) of the especially wealthy Kyle family. Anna later turns up dead in the woods, sister Minnie & mother Lizzie Q (Jillian Doan & Tantoo Cardinal) die of "wasting disease," and sister Rita (JaNae Collins) is blown up. Mollie, a diabetic, has her insulin (a new discovery at the time) poisoned by Ernest, but she survives. In fact, Mollie gets the attention of the US Government, who sends Tom White (Jesse Plemons) of the BOI (precursor of the FBI) on the case. Now what, King?

Well, King has a lot of time to think about it. The film runs a massive 206 minutes, slightly shorter than The Irishman. It's an excessive runtime, but it keeps your attention all the way through. It establishes how the Osage came into their wealth and the greedy conspiracy in no time. Mollie narrates about the "mysterious" deaths in an eerie montage (one victim is shot dead in broad daylight and the sound design there is perfectly shocking). You'll be well aware of conspirators Acie Kirby (Pete Yorn) and John Ramsey (Ty Mitchell) long before they act. Kirby is the one who blows up Rita (Or is it Reta? The closed captions in my screening spelled it that way), and his explosive crime is the film's biggest jolt.

Its most unnerving part has to be De Niro as King. He plays the part of a comforting friend to the Osage long after it's established to the audience that he's the mastermind. Now, when DeNiro played Max Cady in Cape Fear, he made it no secret that Cady was a raging holier-than-thou psychopath. King, on the other hand, mocks his victims with his friendliness. That backhandedness is perfectly detestable. Similarly, I had trouble accepting Ernest as a good guy roped into evil. He seems like a good guy but him poisoning Mollie is inexcusable. I'm certain a lot of it is intentional.

It's not all doom. Mollie is quite compelling as she survives the plot against her and her people. We feel her desperation in her voice as she narrates about the reign of terror. Her and Ernest's somewhat endearing relationship gives the film some levity ... emphasis on somewhat. Bill Smith (Jason Isbell), Minnie and later Rita's husband, is among the film's most sympathetic characters in that he's not in on the plot. He's joined in that regard by Mollie's family and the BOI agents (including Tatanka Means as Ute agent John Wren). The film's climactic trials bring us John Lithgow as Prosecutor Peter Leaward and Brendan Fraser as King's bombastic amoral attorney W.S. Hamilton.

I think this is a good segue into the technical aspects. The sound design is pretty good, though it loses points for the muffled dialogue in the first trial scene. The production and costume designs by Jack Fisk and Jacqueline West, respectively, are as splendorous as Rodrigo Prieto's cinematography. What visual effects I could notice are quite seamless. A few highlights include Ernest and King driving through an oil field of digital refineries and the explosive crime. The recently deceased Robbie Robertson gives us a perfectly foreboding soundtrack, while Thelma Schoonmaker adds another achievement to her long editing career. 

Killers of the Flower Moon's massive runtime isn't for everyone. Those who sit through it will get a tense historical tale of murder and greed. Maybe you'll have a better opinion of Ernest than I did. The epilogue, which gives Scorsese a cameo, is quite unique, that's for sure. This was produced for Apple TV, though its streaming date has yet to be determined. So, if you want to see it, see it soon, and make plenty of room in your schedule.