Other heroes continue to drift into view. The film is based on David Gran’s book, subtitled The Great Murders and the Birth of the FBI, however, the main agent responsible for solving the case, played by Jesse Plemons, is not introduced for two hours. By the way, the lawyers in the later lawsuit, played by John Lithgow and Brendan Fraser, didn’t show up for another half hour after that. Or how about Molly, who trusts Ernest but is also a proud, easygoing, perceptive woman, determined to do justice? Could the movie have had a greater purpose if it had focused on her? There are fascinating revelations about how Osage people are made into babies, and how they run their business, but these should have taken up a larger chunk of the three-and-a-half-hour runtime.
The last half hour in particular elicits mixed feelings because despite some poignant and sober scenes, it becomes a Coen Brothersesque farce about how stupid criminals can be. It’s the most fun part of the movie, but also the most questionable one. If Scorsese was going to make a black comedy featuring a shepherd gangster and his drugged nephew, he probably shouldn’t have used the real massacre of Native Americans as its theme.
★★★ ☆☆
Killers of the Flower Moon will be released in general from October 20th.
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