Directed and co-written by Martin Scorsese (Taxi Driver (1976); The Irishman (2019); The Wolf of Wall Street (2013); Shutter Island (2010)) and starring Leonardo DiCaprio (The Wolf of Wall Street (2013); Django Unchained (2012); Inception (2010); Titanic (1997)), Robert De Niro (Raging Bull (1980); The Deer Hunter (1978); Cape Fear (1991); The Intern (2015)), Lily Gladstone (Certain Women (2016); Winter in the Blood (2013)), Jesse Plemons (The Power of the Dog (2021); The Irishman (2019); Game Night (2018)), Scott Shepherd (Bridge of Spies (2015); Dark Phoenix (2019); Jason Bourne (2016)) and Brendan Fraser (The Mummy (1999); The Whale (2022); Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008)).
Drama; 206 mins; 16+
Set in the 1920s and based on the book of the same name by David Grann which recounted the true story of the Osage Murders.
Ernest Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio) has left the army and goes to live with his uncle, William Hale (Robert De Niro), in Oklahoma. The Osage tribe had become wealthy following the discovery of oil on their land, and each had been allocated parcels of land. Ernest started what could be described as a taxi service, with one of his clients being Mollie (Lily Gladstone) who his uncle, a manipulative patriarch, and his brother Byron Burkhart (Scott Shepherd) encouraged him to marry.
She, like others in the community, had been diagnosed as diabetic, and was quite poorly; however, she managed to acquire insulin which she had to take at regular intervals.
However, members of the Osage tribe - including member's of Mollie's immediate family - were dying in mysterious circumstances, or were being killed, with the local authorities seemingly turning a blind eye and accepting the convenient explanations rather than do any real investigative work. Even a private investigator hired by Mollie ended up dead. Later on, the FBI were called upon and Tom White (Jesse Plemons) turned up to investigate; however, the deaths did not stop and even escalated.
Eventually, the FBI had what they though was enough of a case to go to trial. The issue of conflict of interest came to a head when the defendant's lawyer, W.S. Hamilton (Brendan Fraser), claimed also to be the defendant's lawyer...
Many characters are featured, some quite late in the film, with the audience needing to remember who's who.
At almost three and a half hours long, the feature film could arguably have been shortened considerably or, alternatively, made into a limited series, or even split into two for the big screen. On the other hand, the acting was superb throughout, with both Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio deserving of Oscar nominations.
Currently being screened in Luxembourg at Kinepolis (including IMAX).
