Twice the length required, half the film promised

Rating: 6/10 (18 August 2019)

Quentin Tarantino is never going to get bad press as long as he draws breath; he's created his own self-sustaining bubble of rare releases, propped up by rave reviews from anyone who can scribble down a legible sentence on a page (hypocrite much?). OUATIH follows Rick Dalton and his stunt double Cliff Booth (Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt) as they try to stay afloat in a business leaving them behind, all whilst navigating the quirks of Hollywood. However, this idyllic story is not what many have claimed this film to be - sure, there are brief stylised glimpses of Hollywood's golden age, but they are too fleeting to really consider this film a tale of the era. Realistically, this is a mis-paced, mis-aligned story, and isn't half the film it could have been.
Whilst everything is acted well and the set/costume design is incredible, ultimately Sharon Tate's character (played by Margot Robbie) could be cut from the film with zero loss. One moment you'll be watching DiCaprio and Pitt masterfully acting their respective roles (DiCaprio once again showing his effortless range), and the next you see Robbie sitting in a theatre for a 15-minute stint. It completely kills the first half of the film, and makes you wonder when the eventual plot device to marry the two groups is going to happen. Spoiler: it never comes, and by the end I was left wondering why half of the plot even happened. Its not that Margot Robbie's acting is bad (she is fairly strong as expected), or that her script isn't good - her character is just inconsequential, included solely to tie the plot to some semblance of reality. Only in the final half an hour does the plot begin to really move, and only then does Tarantino really produce some cinema magic.
Dalton and Booth are undoubtedly the characters you go to see, but there are other exceptional performances: Timothy Olyphant, Mike Moh and Kurt Russell all lend good cameos, and breakout star Julia Butters (playing child actress Trudi) is incredible. This is also one of Tarantino's funnier scripts, with decent laughs from good writing and unexpected plot devices. However, this isn't enough to make up for a run time that is probably an hour too long, especially given the lack of content to actually pack out this blockbuster.