The true story of what was done to the Osage is tragic, riveting, and important. The movie told it very well, although I can see that the film somewhat centered the white characters too much at the expense of the Osage characters, whose tragedy it was.
Lily Gladstone is magnificent. Leonardo D is very good. (I don't know why he wasn't nominated for an Oscar.) DeNiro always gets the job done but it's kind of funny that he's just a few years younger than his real-life character was when he died after a long stretch in prison. (Actually, I think Leonardo and Deniro are both about twice the ages of their real-life counterparts when the actual murders took place.)
I liked that they didn't include the whole story of the founding of the FBI, which the book went into at great and somewhat boring length and so detracted from the Osage story, I felt. On the other hand, the film may have cut that part too much, and maybe could have spent a little more time on Plemon's character figuring things out. It's just kind of a done deal when he shows up.
It feels kind of anticlimactic at the end, but that's likely because it's a true story. I'm glad Scorcese didn't invent a big bang fake ending.
I loved the surprise at the beginning. That was really cool.
I know some reviewers have trouble with the length - and it is, indeed, long. I think it worked because you realize that Ernest went along with what was done to Mollie for a very long time - and she was suffering all that time. It also allowed viewers' dread to build up. Full disclosure, I watched it in two sittings - it's not a movie to start later at night unless you want to be up till the wee hours.
Lily Gladstone is magnificent. Leonardo D is very good. (I don't know why he wasn't nominated for an Oscar.) DeNiro always gets the job done but it's kind of funny that he's just a few years younger than his real-life character was when he died after a long stretch in prison. (Actually, I think Leonardo and Deniro are both about twice the ages of their real-life counterparts when the actual murders took place.)
I liked that they didn't include the whole story of the founding of the FBI, which the book went into at great and somewhat boring length and so detracted from the Osage story, I felt. On the other hand, the film may have cut that part too much, and maybe could have spent a little more time on Plemon's character figuring things out. It's just kind of a done deal when he shows up.
It feels kind of anticlimactic at the end, but that's likely because it's a true story. I'm glad Scorcese didn't invent a big bang fake ending.
I loved the surprise at the beginning. That was really cool.
I know some reviewers have trouble with the length - and it is, indeed, long. I think it worked because you realize that Ernest went along with what was done to Mollie for a very long time - and she was suffering all that time. It also allowed viewers' dread to build up. Full disclosure, I watched it in two sittings - it's not a movie to start later at night unless you want to be up till the wee hours.