While watching the Irishman, I remember feeling guilty about pausing to check how much time was left. This time, I was scared to look at the watch because I never leave the cinema without finishing a. Movie. I know it’s Martin Scorsese, one of the greatest directors who made phenomenal movies like Taxi Driver, Wolf of Wall Street and The Departed, but honestly, Scorsese shmorsese for making this one 2 hours longer than it had to be.

The story is about a tribe of Native Americans who discovered oil in Osage at the start of 20th century. Our protagonist Earnest (DiCaprio) and his uncle (De Niro) are on a mission to snatch that money for themselves. It’s a nice story that could have been an 8/10 as it explores the topics of greed, colonisation and cultural erasure without any consequences. It also came out at a perfect time considering the current events, but did it have to be sooooo damn loooong?

Knowing the title of the film, you automatically know it’s ending so that alone saps out all the mystery. For what is supposed to be a sad story, the film doesn’t create any emotional weight to make us care for it’s characters and as a result, it’s hard to connect with anything. De Niro and Fraser did a fine job but DiCaprio looked like a pitiful aging boar instead of the young, sly and seductive fox he was meant to be.

The costumes and decorations were great but it’s like they forgot about the audience while making this film. The story repeats the same trope again and again creating zero tension for us to be invested in until the final 30 minutes. Moreover, it’s as if the whole cast, was injected with ketamine as they looked and sounded lethargic adding more weight to the dragging pace.

If Scorsese wanted to make an impact then he should’ve used emotions and tension instead of 600 pauses, glances and empty conversations. He was trying to say a lot in the epilogue about tragedy being hidden behind entertainment and profit but by the time the epilogue finally came, I was happy to go home instead of being floored by the sadness. It’s an important story that sadly didn’t work out as an impactful drama.

Director

 Martin Scorsese

Top cast

Lily Gladstone as Mollie Burkhart

Martin Scorsese as Radio Show Producer

Leonardo DiCaprio as Ernest Burkhart

 Jesse Plemons as Tom White