Martin Scorsese gives praise to Brendan Fraser’s performance amid Killers of the Flower Moon criticisms

Martin Scorsese’s latest film, Killers of the Flower Moon, is now out and has been praised by many, including Francis Ford Coppola, as Scorsese’s masterpiece. However, the movie, no matter how positive a reception it has gotten, is not bulletproof (just as the gangsters in his mobster films aren’t). Some theaters have taken it into their own hands to diminish the effects of the film’s lengthy runtime for audiences by inserting their own intermissions that haven’t been approved by Scorsese. The practice has faced backlash from the movie’s editor, Thelma Schoonmaker. And recently, social media has been divisive over the choices that Brendan Fraser has made for his performance as the lawyer, W.S. Hamilton.

According to LADBible, Fraser’s performance is drawing criticism from many on social media who feel his portrayal was “baffling” and deemed it to be cartoonish in the middle of an otherwise serious film. Naturally, there are also those who defend Fraser’s performance. As vocal as Scorsese has been about the responses to his films, he would not sit idly by without defending his actor. Scorsese praised Fraser, stating, “We thought he’d be great for the lawyer and I admired his work over the years. 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, particularly with Leo. Particularly in the scene where he says ‘they’re putting a noose around your neck, he’s saving you dumb boy’.”

Scorsese continued, “Really for us, when we heard that he brought the whole scene down on Leo it was perfect. And had that girth, he’s big in the frame at that time. He’s a wonderful actor, and he was just great to work with.” While he was at it, the director would go on to glow about his film’s star Lily Gladstone, who has been pretty unanimously praised for her powerhouse performance. Scorsese remarked that she has a “perfect cinema face.” He then explained, “She could be saying nothing, but you feel everything going on behind her eyes and in the positioning of her face when she moves. But there’s so much going on inside of her, and it’s reflected in a very still way.”