Aimless romp

Rating: 7/10 (26 August 2019)

Seeing this film on IMAX was a real thrill. The spectacle was worth every penny spent. Outstanding acting, interesting characters, gorgeous cinematography and plenty of laughs.
So why 7 stars?
This film doesn't really have a plot. It feels like an interesting snapshot into the lives of a few interesting characters in the late 60s. It's Tarantino, so everything is beautifully shot obviously, and quirky obviously. There's also lashings of extreme violence... obviously. It's just missing something significant to knit it all together into a coherent narrative. I'm still not quite sure what the point of Margot Robbie's character was, other than to exude stunning beauty and optimism.
This film feels a tad self indulgent, as if there's an undercurrent of in-group know-how about it all, a nudge nudge wink wink towards film history nerds, that might escape many of us who aren't in the film industry and don't live in Hollywood. In other words, most of the audience.
In saying all of that, I enjoyed every second of it, but I was as much enjoying another dose of Tarantino's film making mastery, as enjoying a coherent story with a beginning, middle and end. It feels like Tarantino on freestyle mode, not worrying too much about having things hang together. Just putting a few interesting snippets of film together, with brilliant and beautiful actors, in a fairly loose way without bothering to connect it all. Why does it need to be connected? Maybe it doesn't...
A brilliant but slightly unsatisfying journey into late 60s Hollywood craziness. Maybe 7 is a little bit harsh in this one but 7 it is.