A love letter to 1969 Hollywood but lacks action.

Rating: 6/10 (21 August 2019)

Sadly this is more Jackie Brown than Hateful Eight and certainly no Pulp Fiction.
While QT creates a hyper-realistic slice of 1969 this is definitely a film that celebrates style over substance.
In his desire to recreate the movies of the era, QT has paced this film like Easy Rider, or Taxi Driver.. A long slow build up to a dramatic denouement. But they didn't stretch out over 2 hrs before the action started
Brad Pitt and Leonardo Di Caprio are fine actors and remain utterly watchable through the 160 meandering minutes of this movie. Margot Robbie does a passable turn as Sharon Tate but gets much less screen time than the two leads and her famously tragic story provides some sense of menace in the background of the main story about a down at heel actor (LDC) and his best pal (BP) as they struggle with the downturn in the actors career.
There is some snappy dialogue, a few easter eggs for film buffs and some ruminations on the craft of acting but not a huge amount of fizz or sparkle other than that created by the two leads.
That said there are some genuinely fun moments (particularly the Bruce Lee as Kato sequence) but there are too many half hours in between where not much happens at all.
The denouement when it comes is a little surprising, but the violence is more Tex Avery than Sam Peckinpah which rather undermines the rest of the tone which is very much 'in period'.
I'd say this was worth a 6/10 if only for the acting and the 'atmosphere' but not anywhere near QTs finest work.