Adam Schwartzbaum

While the film has a few bright spots (particularly Lily Gladstone as Molly and every scene with Cara Jade Myers’ Anna), this bloated 3 and a half hour examination of the Osage murders ultimately collapses under its own weight. Its failures are due much to a lack of suspense, an undue focus on the “killers” played by DiCaprio and De Niro, and its portrayal of the main Native American characters that leaves us mostly confused about their impenetrable characterizations and decisions. Scorsese does an admirable job recreating the specific culture and context for the film’s historic events, making us feel that we are getting a window into a disturbingly racist Wild West. But in all of his effort to get every detail of the history right, he forgets what is most important; making us care about the characters. We anguish for the Osage being ruthlessly exterminated for oil money by rapacious white men, but despite its best efforts to flesh out motives and values, that characters mostly feel flat and one dimensional. DiCaprio, in particular, seems to be overacting in almost every scene, squinting and frowning at the camera as he faithfully executes the grim conspiracy, but we never really understand why he would do these horrible things, except for the most des that he’s just evil. This film would have been much better serviced if, instead of focusing on the villains, it had told the story from the perspective of the hunted Native Americans: every time the film peeks into their minds and gives us a glimpse of their culture, it instantly becomes much more interesting. Instead, a film supposedly about Native Americans is mostly about their white subjugators, and by the end of the film, the main Native American character, Molly, has been an almost entirely washed out presence. For a film filled with gruesome killings and scenes intended to pull at your heartstrings, I did not shed a single tear. It fails to get us to deeply feel and understand the struggle of the oppressed in the way a greater film such as “12 Years a Slave” does so successfully. And, as the film enters its third hour, it begins to draw out so painfully that by its end, we were left exhausted and bored. Scorsese had admirable intentions for this film, which is beautifully produced, but sadly, it does not land how it should. Ultimately, it is a slog and a disappointment.