This Movie is Almost 3 Hours!?

Rating: 10/10 (4 August 2019)

There is no better compliment for a long movie than to not realize it is a long movie. It means that the movie is engaging enough to keep you invested for the entire run time. This is definitely one of those movies. Set prior to the Manson Family murders, Tarantino's new film follows a pretty boy actor whose career is coming to an end and his gopher stunt double and friend. Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) is trying to turn his dying career around, looking for one more breakthrough role, but its just not happening. Like many of the young pretty boy actors of classical Hollywood, he is just not transitioning to the new age of 60s Hollywood. Meanwhile, his only friend during this troubled period, Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt), is contentedly coasting through life. He has no qualms as long as he gets to work for his friend, but his carefree lifestyle runs him afoul of the notorious Manson Family. And then Tarantino happens.
Tarantino knows how to design a world. In his own version of the 1960s, he crafts something that's wonderfully familiar and yet something all his own. His committment to the setting is phenomenal, bringing up even the smallest details that most wouldn't know. For instance, Italian movies of the time often would bring in actors from around the world and had them deliver their lines in their native languages, later redubbing them in post. There are even scenes where nothing is going on, and he just wants to show off his handiwork. Yet they don't drag the movie for an instant.
In spite of the directors reputation, there is little violence in this movie. Two and a half hours of this movie has only occasional instances but the vast majority of it is dedicated to the drama of Dalton's floundering career. And none of it drags. DiCaprio and Pitt are charming and funny and the number of familiar faces that pop up is a stark reminder of talent seemingly forgotten in the modern age. But the gloves have to come off eventually, and Tarantino pulls no punches. That last ten minutes is brutal as only the most violent man in Hollywood could make it.
This movie is a blast.