AFTER winning an Oscar for Best Actor for The Whale earlier this year, movie-goers might have high expectations for Brendan Fraser’s performance in Killers of the Flower Moon.
The latest film by Scorsese would feature the actor as WS Hamilton, an attorney who represents Robert De Niro’s William Hale, and the role is Fraser’s first film since the Oscar win.
Unfortunately, certain reviewers online have taken to criticising Fraser due to his playing the role in a way that was “too over-the-top”. First reported by LADBible and confirmed by Entertainment Weekly (EW), Scorsese has defended the actor’s delivery as “perfect”.
“We thought he’d be great for the lawyer, and I admired his work over the years,” Scorsese said. “He actually came in for, I think, a couple of weeks on the picture, particularly when it was in our later shoot.
We had a really good time working together, especially with Leonardo DiCaprio. Particularly in the scene where he says, “They’re putting a noose around your neck - he’s saving you, dumb boy.’”
The veteran director defined it as Fraser “bringing the whole scene down” on DiCaprio’s Ernest Burkhart. “It was perfect. And he had that girth. He is big in the frame at that time. He is a wonderful actor, and he was just great to work with”.
In the film, Hamilton acts as a legal defence for Hale and Burkhart, who are on trial for their connection to the murders of the Native American Osage women.
Another criticism people had occurred during a courtroom scene was when Hamilton turned to Burkhart and loudly yelled, “This man is my client.” On X (formerly Twitter), Apple Films, which produced the film, also defended Fraser’s delivery, posting a page from the book the film was adapted from. “Note the exclamation point,” Apple wrote.
