E LEARNED IN SCHOOL about obtuse concepts like “manifest destiny” and American expansionism in the 19th and 20th centuries, and the horrific treatment of Native Americans as a shines a light on just how insidious, ruthless, racist and greedy these white settlers really were. When the Osage tribe in Oklahoma become incredibly wealthy after striking oil on their reservation, cattle baron (and seeming friend of the Osage) William “King” Hale (Robert De Niro) and his manipulated nephew Ernest Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio) plot to enrich themselves by any means necessary.
