Conclave

Director: Edward Berger
Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, Sergio Castellitto, Isabella Rossellini, Lucian Msamati, Carlos Diehz, Brían F. O'Byrne, Merab Ninidze, Balkissa Maiga
Running Time: 120 min.
Rating: PG

★★★ ½ (out of ★★★★)     

Adapted from Robert Harris' 2016 novel, Conclave centers around an election that somehow feels both very real and fictitious all at once. When a pope passes away an organized conclave of Cardinals do convene to vote on a successor, but director Edward Berger's heightened interpretation of events benefits from the process having never really been examined or dramatized on film before. That results in an eye opening watch for anyone curious about what such an event could entail, even under these craziest of circumstances.

The cerebral thriller is as much a reflection of the current political climate as the inner workings of the Roman Catholic Church, with Berger's methodical setup giving way to an intelligently made adult drama that gathers momentum with each plot turn. The results are gripping, as an uncomplicated endeavor gets muddled by lies and corruption, threatening to further tarnish the institution's already shaky reputation.

When Pope Gregory XVII dies of a heart attack, Cardinal-Dean Thomas Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes) gathers his colleagues in seclusion for a papal conclave to elect the new pontiff. Candidates include the very liberal Aldo Bellini (Stanley Tucci) from the United States, Nigeria's Joshua Adeyemi (Lucian Msamati), conservative Canadian Joseph Tremblay (John Lithgow), and far right leaning Italian traditionalist Goffredo Tedesco (Sergio Castellitto). But when Lawrence is informed of an incriminating meeting that took place between Tremblay and the late pope directly before his death, the election is thrown into disarray.

As ballots are counted, more revelations surface, including a tryst from Adeyemi's past that rattles a concerned Sister Agnes (Isabella Rossellini) and the last-minute arrival of  secretly appointed Archbishop of Kabul, Vincent Benitez (Carlos Diehz). Presiding over numerous rounds of voting but expressing little interest in holding the position himself, Lawrence doubts the other candidates can capably fill it, knowing only that someone will have to.

With all the power and responsibility being pope brings, it only makes sense certain nominees wouldn't want it, lie about not wanting it, or stop at nothing to ensure they're elected. If not for the fact he's a good man, our protagonist would probably rather cover his ears, shielding himself and others from all these alleged misdeeds. Instead, he investigates each allegation as if the Church's future depended on it. And that's largely because it does. 

To say Lawrence suffers a crisis of faith isn't accurate since he hasn't lost belief in the Church so much as a process itself that constantly forces him to choose between the lesser of multiple evils. Then again, he also realizes his colleagues are human, prone to the same errors in moral judgment as anyone. This only makes coming to a just, favorable outcome that much harder, especially considering the number of skeletons top candidates are hiding in their closets.

Set to resign only hours earlier, it's clear why the deceased pope needed Lawrence to stay on, recognizing in him the qualities necessary to lead this College of Cardinals through difficult stretches like this. But it's also easy to see how Lawrence has no interest in an admittedly thankless position he feels unsuited for. Ironically, that stance only solidifies his worthiness, doing what few can by putting the Church's needs ahead of personal ambition. 

Waging war with his own conscience as a string of damaging details emerge, Fiennes transfixes as Lawrence, internalizing the stress and anguish as this election drags on. But he doesn't waiver, thoroughly deliberating each move with the knowledge there's only one chance to get it right. As the Cardinals split into opposing voting blocks, Bellini becomes Lawrence's trusted sounding board, with Tucci incredibly effective as a confidante who won't hold back, helping Lawrence wade through the deception. 

The other Cardinals sneakily whisper and conspire, while Lithgow steals scenes as the stubbornly ambitious Tremblay, who may or may not be pulling strings to ensure himself victory. Rossellini's role is small, but impactful, letting Sister Agnes' views be known with looks of disapproval and disdain before speaking out, whether the men want to hear it or not. It's to Lawrence's credit that he doesn't necessarily want input from everyone, yet remains open minded enough to listen just the same.

In the third act, another sane, rational voice speaks up at just the right moment, cutting through conflicting ideologies to remind these Cardinals of the bigger problems raging just outside their walls. It's only when we think it's all finally figured out that the big twist arrives, coming out of left field, but tying into the film's central thematic conflict between tradition and progress. The perfect candidate never existed and won't, so it's almost fitting that amidst all the dissension an enormous detail would slip under the radar, causing Lawrence to stumble headfirst into a change no one imagined.

The question of whether it's acceptable to elect the least compromised among an assembly line of flawed, dishonest candidates becomes the foundation on which the story's built. Bringing a refined precision to the proceedings, Berger and screenwriter Peter Straughan craft the rare prestige film that could play in any era, but still seems specifically suited to now. Carefully constructed and featuring powerful performances from a formidable cast, it squeezes a surprising amount of suspense from a scenario few expected to induce such excitement.             

Killers of the Flower Moon

Director: Martin Scorsese
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Lily Gladstone, Jesse Plemons, John Lithgow, Brendan Fraser, Tantoo Cardinal, Cara Jade Myers, Jason Isbell, William Belleau, Scott Shepherd, Tatanks Means, Sturgill Simpson, Charlie Musselwhite, Pat Healy, Jack White, Barry Corbin, Pete Yorn
Running Time: 206 min.
Rating: R

★★★ ½ (out of ★★★★)

There's this chilling moment toward the end of Martin Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon when Robert De Niro's villainous character predicts that any outrage about the murders he ordered won't last. People move on and history fades, until disappearing, rarely given a second thought. Sadly, he ended up being right. Long removed from public consciousness, it took David Grann's 2017 non-fiction bestseller for the Osage Nation killings to be widely acknowledged for the pure savagery it was.

Now the basis for this three and a half hour epic, Scorsese and co-writer Eric Roth are put in the unenviable position of not only doing justice to real events, but molding it into a piece of art and entertainment that doesn't feel like a preachy history lecture. On that front, Scorsese again proves his worth, giving shape and meaning to a gigantic story too well crafted to be merely written off as a cinematic miniseries.   

During the annual "Flower Moon" ceremony, a discovery of oil deposits beneath the ground brings abundant wealth to Oklahoma's Native American Osage tribe, even as their revenues are legally overseen by white court-appointed guardians. But World War I veteran Ernest Burkhart's (Leonardo DiCaprio) return to the states in 1919 to live with his uncle, William "King" Hale (De Niro) soon makes a bad situation worse. A reserve deputy sheriff and local political honcho, Hale's been posing as a friendly benefactor to the Osage inheritors while orchestrating their murders for money. Now with Ernest in the fold, he has even more help.

When not committing armed robberies with his brother Byron (Scott Shepherd), Ernest works as a driver for Mollie Kyle (Lily Gladstone), an Osage whose family owns oil headrights. But after Ernest falls in love and marries her, Hale convinces him they need to target his new wife's relatives to gain control of the inheritance. With Mollie suffering from diabetes and caring for an elderly mother, Hale and his nephews sets their sights on eliminating her sisters first. As the reservation's body count rises, Hale uses his pull with local law enforcement to cover up the killings, until the arrival of F.B.I. agent Thomas Bruce White Sr. (Jesse Plemons) threatens to expose it all.

It's somewhat difficult to reconcile how Mollie marries Ernest to begin with since there's hardly a minute where he doesn't come across as a hopelessly dense creep. And DiCaprio, fitted with bad teeth and mealy mouthed drawl that makes him sound like Sling Blade's Karl Childers, plays this to a hilt, with him initially tagging behind her like a lost puppy. Despite Mollie having a good head on her shoulders and seemingly aware of his faults, Gladstone succeeds in making her believably vulnerable enough to fall for this. The character's sadness over the Osage's plight, her own declining health and continuous family tragedies could be counted as contributing factors she thinks marrying him may lessen.

The gullible Ernest doesn't start out gunning for Mollie's money until his uncle tells him to, knowing once this lost soul feels wanted and important, there's no looking back. And since the grandfatherly Hale's hands are in everything as he projects the aura of an upstanding community leader, covering up these murders becomes that much easier. Ernest expresses occasional doubt about the atrocities he carries out, but mostly because he's too dumb to fully comprehend them. He's also a major screw up who still somehow increases their chances of being caught despite Hale having local law enforcement and doctors in his pocket, declaring the gruesome murders as suicides and accidents. 

After much of Mollie's family is buried, it's easy to assume she must know who's responsible. When exactly that happens we're not sure, which is what makes Gladstone's performance such a delicate dance. Using little other than unreadable expressions and body language, she plays Mollie as outwardly guarded and composed while playing her cards close to the vest, realizing that could be the only remaining chance at survival. 

A lot of the smaller turns add up, such as Cara Jade Myers' role as Mollie's unpredictably promiscuous sister Anna and Jason Isbell's quietly intense Bill Smith, the brother-in-law who spooks Ernest with his suspicions. The most effective subplot involves melancholy alcoholic Osage Henry Roan (William Belleau), a friend of Hale's who finds himself in the crosshairs of hired assassin Alvin Reynolds (Charles Musselwhite). Singer/songwriter Pete Yorn also cameos as an explosives expert, but the artist whose presence looms largest is the late Robbie Robertson, with The Band co-founder's bluesy score proving subtly impactful, heightening the film's most powerful stretches and overall tone. Jack Fisk's production design also aids in that regard, somewhat reminiscent of his work in There Will Be Blood. 

All bets are off when the FBI close in, with Ernest and Hale scrambling to tie up loose ends while a bedridden Mollie is neutralized, hallucinating and wasting away despite being one of the few in the country to obtain insulin. Hardly an appendage, Mollie's story continues uninterrupted into the second half, where her character's physically incapacitated. Teetering between life and death, some of Gladstone's best scenes come as the full brunt of her husband's actions reign down. And while the kingpin role may not be a huge leap for De Niro, you'd have to really go back years to find a part he's been able to devour quite like this.

Jesse Plemons' agent White projects an aw shucks demeanor off the bat, but proves cunning enough to let the perpetrators implicate themselves and each other with their lies. Fittingly, Ernest can't manage to make the most obvious, face-saving choice without briefly getting suckered by Hale and Brendan Fraser's bombastic defense attorney W.S. Hamilton. And even when Ernest comes close to doing the right thing out of circumstantial necessity, it doesn't take long for him to ruin that also, failing to take responsibility for the worst he's done.   

While many will understandably find it taxing to spend the entirety of this picture with DiCaprio's easily manipulated sleazebag character, it could help explain why Scorsese strays from Grann's source material, foregoing a heroic FBI origin story to put increased focus on the victims. This adds some depth, transforming what could have been a law enforcement procedural into a gripping meditation on prejudice and corruption.   

Scorsese finds a completely fresh and inventive device to close on, letting us know what's become of these people in a stylistic approach that puts to shame your ordinary closing title cards that vomit historical data. The movie is more cut and dry than you'd expect, but it's what happened, and for any quibbles about various portrayals, all those continuous murders still hit hardest. No matter how much money the Osage had, they lacked power and a voice, at least until they finally convinced the right people to listen. 

TV on DVD: Dexter (The Complete Fourth Season)

Writer/Producer: James Manos, Jr. 
Starring: Michael C. Hall, Jennifer Carpenter, Desmond Harrington, Lauren Velez, David Zayas, C.S. Lee, James Remar, Julie Benz, John Lithgow, Keith Carradine, Courtney Ford
Original Air Date: 2009

★★★★ (out of ★★★★)

What a comeback this is. After Dexter's mediocre third season in which the writers seemed to hit a brick wall and nothing much of interest occurred, they've come out this time with guns blazing, as the best show currently on television has now officially aired its strongest season yet. In terms of pure edge-of-your-seat drama it's unmatched and what's so surprising is that it comes just as you'd think the well of ideas would start to run dry for its intriguing premise. Some of the little (and they were only little) nagging issues that plagued the show through the course of its run are completely eliminated by inventive writing and performances that are firing on all cylinders. 

While the season doesn't feel as meticulously plotted as the first and second, that works to its advantage since a break from the familiar structure was definitely called for. We were due for some surprises and got them. Going in, I heard a lot about John Lithgow's guest starring turn that justifiably won him an Emmy, but nothing could have prepared me for just how astonishing he is here. It's tempting to give him full credit for this season's success (and don't get me wrong he's a HUGE part of it) but doing that undermines the writers and other actors who  all greatly contributed to these 12 game-changing episodes.

It's inaccurate to claim the fourth season picks up where the third left off since nothing of substance in happened. With little fallout to speak of, what's interesting about this season is how it brilliantly fleshes out an idea that was only grazed upon then relegated to buddy comedy fodder in the last one. The idea of someone entering the picture that forces Miami Metro blood spatter analyst Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall) to really examine the practicality of continuing his secret life as a serial killer of murderers in spite of how the lying has so hugely effected his relationship with wife Rita (Julie Benz). Now with a new baby boy, Dexter is tempted more than ever to finally rid himself of "The Dark Passenger" he's been carrying inside since he and his little brother witnessed their mother's death as children. Continuing on like this is risky not only for himself, but his family, who he selfishly continues to endanger at the expense of his addiction. 

The return of now retired FBI Special Agent Frank Lundy (Season 2 guest star Keith Carradine) sets in motion a chain of events that forces Dexter to make that choice between his two lives. Lundy is back in Miami hunting the previously unidentified "Trinity Killer," AKA Arthur Mitchell (Lithgow) a serial murderer who's been killing in patterns of threes for 30 years in an effort to cleanse himself of a childhood trauma similar to Dexter's. Unlike Jimmy Smits' Miguel Prado, who infiltrated Dex's world last season, Arthur is a serious, dangerous threat who's every bit his match, even more ritualistic and capable of completely destroying him. And very much unlike last season when we knew exactly how everything would end, there are twists and turns, as well as legitimate doubt whether Dexter will even be able to get this monster on his table by the finale.

Upon hearing the long underrated Lithgow was cast for this season I knew there was little chance it would turn out to be anything but an enormous success given his track record. A veteran stage and screen actor widely known for his comic skills (racking up a handful of Emmys on 3rd Rock From The Sun), he's rarely been given the right opportunity to display how equally effective he can be in dramatic roles.  In a terrifying turn that alternates between massive mood swings, he's essentially balancing two separate personalities. One is church-going family man Arthur Mitchell, who spends his free time building houses for a Habitat for Humanity type projects across the country and cringes at the sight of a hurt animal. The other is the "Trinity Killer," a sadistic monster so mentally ill and unstable that's he's actually convinced he's murdering innocent people for the greater good. Just juggling these polar opposite personas would be tricky enough for any performer but Lithgow effectively merges them and the scenes where he physically and emotionally terrorizes his own family are so harshly realistic it's difficult to watch. Your heart's in your throat knowing he really could pass for that friendly guy you chatted up at church last week, or worse yet, your neighbor.

The quest to put Trinity down for good becomes personal for Dexter on a number of levels, but with it comes the horrifying realization that Arthur's future could be his if he continues down his current path. Hallucinations and flashbacks of his deceased father Harry (James Remar) and reminders of his "code" have been prevalent throughout the series' run but this is the most mileage they've got out of it yet as it practically feels like he's on the case with his son, guiding his conscience. Once again viewers are put in an uncomfortable spot, having to ask themselves whether Dexter really is any better than the scum he's killing, even though he clearly wants to be. 

It bares mentioning every season how incredible Michael C. Hall is in the title role but sometimes he can be so convincing I annoyingly catch myself wishing Rita would just stop nagging Dexter and let the poor guy lead his life. That is until I remember he's out every night.... murdering people! To an extent, I can actually sympathize with television watch groups complaining that the show condones vigilantism and violence, but fortunately that doesn't make the writing on the show or Hall's work any less brilliant. Disturbingly, it only confirms the show has done its job and it should be up to the viewer to sort out what's right and wrong.

Unlike Dexter's silly bromance with Prado last season, his friendship with Arthur is practically a suicide mission and it was a relief to see the Miami Metro police department portrayed as competent law officials that Dexter again must stay a step ahead of to cover his tracks. As Deb, Jennifer Carpenter delivers her best acting work yet in the series, conveying a mix of toughness and vulnerability as she's forced to recover from another jarring personal tragedy. Carradine's stay as Lundy is shorter this time around but maybe more important as the character continues to make an impact long after he's gone. 

Given their track record last season, it's hard not to cringe when the writers embark on a romantic sub-plot involving LaGuerta (Lauren Velez) and Batista (David Zayas) but it's surprisingly well handled and isn't treated as the throwaway storyline you'd expect. Detective Joey Quinn (Desmond Harrington, now a regular) not only sparks a feud with Dexter but begins a relationship with investigative reporter Christine Hill (guest star Courtney Ford) that doesn't go where we expect at all. At first, Ford's role doesn't seem like much to start but as it evolves into something a lot more complex and challenging, she steps up and delivers in a big way. Of everyone, her multi-dimensional performance is most at risk of being unjustly overlooked amidst the deserved hype of Lithgow's, and it's almost impossible to believe that before landing this gig Ford was actually about to quit acting. It's a good thing she didn't, as she shouldn't have any problems finding work now.

As strong as the series' first two seasons were, the only problem was that their story arcs concluded about an episode too early and things were always tied up a little too neatly right before the finales. Here, you're feeling the tension and suspense right up until the unforgettable closing image. Though the shocking conclusion to this season was spoiled for me beforehand, the best news is that there actually is a shocking conclusion and a real cliffhanger that forces you to tune in for Season 5. This was a  long overdue development, and now that they've gone through with it, a whole new set of possibilities have opened up for the series. In many ways this season of Dexter brings the show full circle, ending almost exactly as its premiere began, and what happens next is anyone's guess.