"And Now...the Hollywood in Tarantino's Head"

Rating: 2/10 (4 August 2019)

While it is no surprise that a Tarantino movie is a pastiche of his favourite movie shots, it is a surprise to realize the movie rolling across the screen is nothing more than a disjointed montage of his favourite Western scenes interspersed with newly rendered 60s movie posters, shots of vintage Hollywood landmarks, a gratuitous Playboy mansion scene where Steve McQueen tells the audience that Sharon Tate has a thing for twelve year old boys (a shot at America for expelling Polanski because he had a thing for thirteen year old girls?) and evil hippie shots. The whole meanders its way to an unexpected and cruelly sad fantasy ending.
Never subtle, Tarantino overlays it all with annoyingly short but pointed snippets of music from the era and hits the audience over the head with a reminder that DiCaprio is a good actor (yes, we know). The one bright spot was Brad Pitt. He didn't need Tarantino to remind us that he has great comedic timing, it was evident in all his scenes. In the end, there is a distinct sense that the audience is watching a Tarantinoesque film that just happens to be made by Tarantino. Not his best.