Solid 4.5 // The Stories We Tell Ourselves

Rating: 9/10 (4 August 2019)

Tarantino gifts us once again with his masterful blend of spirited characters, biting dialogue, playful self-indulgence, obsessive visual splendor, gripping tension, and explosively cathartic violence. You can feel his warm, radiant love for the craft emanating from every frame, cut, and musical cue. It's intoxicating, and the nearly three-hour run time simply melts away under his assured directorial hand. But there's something more here, too: a yearning for a bygone era, a melancholic rumination on the ever-changing times, and the reflections of an iconic director approaching the twilight of his own storied career. Tarantino seems to be exploring the very fabric of stories themselves and their roles in our lives, be it the story Rick Dalton tells himself about his own career, Robbie's Tate relishing herself on the big screen, or we as the audience viewing this very film's revisionist, fairy-tale denouement. Through story we can hope, dream, grieve, play, contemplate, yearn, process the unfathomable, and just have a good time. Thanks for the good time, Quentin.
Solid 4.5/5