Tarantino tried something here, but it didn't work

Rating: 6/10 (1 September 2019)

I'm not really quite sure what he tried. There are hints at just trying to make a more conventional (less "Tarantino") movie, or a sort of a fairy-tale. It is named "Once Upon a Time (in Hollywood)", but it's not like Once Upon a Time in the West or in New York, which are regular historic pieces. Also, trying to show the life of most people in the industry, who struggle and don't really know what to expect and do about it - and contrasting that to the idyllic life of Sharon Tate - well, actually Margot Robbie really.
The thing is, while I can't figure out what exactly Tarantino tried here, I can say it didn't work. The first ~90 minutes of the movie feel too slow and pointless. There a few jokes, but, way, way too little. Since his style (not just in this movie) is not of a realistic one, then the whole showing of the series shooting process in the 60's doesn't make much sense.
Perhaps the biggest problem is the acting. Pitt and DiCaprio do solid work, but are kind of in the same "I'm not really sure what we're doing here" situation. Margot Robbie is actually bad. Not terrible, but bad. She's a pretty woman, but, she's not aging well and thus is not a good fit for Sharon Tate who was the epitome for a "pretty young blonde" for her time. I get it, Margot Robbie was for the time ~5 years ago and Tarantino couldn't find a replacement, but, still, that's not the only problem. She tries to somewhat imitate Sharon Tate, mostly with the characteristic gaze a lot of actresses did at the time. But, it doesn't really work. It's Margot Robbie doing some stuff, we don't see Sharon Tate.
What does work?
The "mechanics" do. There's very good camera work (though nothing as impressive as the theatre scene in Inglorious Basterds), lightning is also good, tone ditto... You really see that by now Tarantino has become a good, if unconventional, director.
The Bruce Lee "flashback". It's great. Don't listen to people who try to pull some SJW stuff here for whatever reason. It does a great comedic portray of the silly of Bruce Lee.
The finale. It is a Tarantino finale, so, there's lots of very graphic and somewhat meaningless violence. But, it's fast, interesting and funny. There's more fun and funny in the finale (~15 min) then in the whole movie before (>2h).
So, it is worth a watch and it does make you think more than other Tarantino movies, but, it's certainly not close to his best work.