Overly Lengthy & Underwhelming.

Rating: 3/10 (31 July 2019)

'Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood' is acclaimed director Quentin Tarantino's 9th film and one that surely will be closely observed by critics. As anticipated as any Tarantino film can be, does this one live up to the hype?
1. Set in 1969 Los Angeles, the story involves fading actor Rick Dalton (DiCaprio) and his stunt-double/close friend Cliff Booth (Pitt) as they try to salvage some acclaim in Hollywood within their twilight years in the industry. Firstly, as simple as that plot may sound, a film like this takes many turns and (as with most Tarantino films) stories converge. Personally, I expected intertwining story-lines but not such a dull script. With a run-time of 2hrs 41mins, this film could easily have lost 60-45mins as it is plagued with tons of unnecessary and dragging scenes. I don't mind lengthy films, but the biggest crime a lengthy feature can make is to be boring. Capturing the audiences' attention should be first priority.
2. The chemistry between DiCaprio and Pitt is no doubt the best part of this film. It's about time these two have worked together and they both do their best to keep you invested in their slice of the story. On the other hand, Margot Robbie as Sharon Tate is completely useless to say the least. Her character is there for no reason at all and contributes absolutely nothing to the overall plot. Her scenes should have been cut from the final theatrical version entirely. Many other A-list actors make cameos throughout but are in no way outstanding judging by performances. No disrespect to the late Luke Perry, but anyone could have played his part as he utterly insignificant in his short role.
3. This film succeeds a lot more when it shifts gere into comedy and focuses on DiCaprio and Pitt. The secondary plot (as shown in the trailers) involves the 'Manson Family', which leads to a rather entertaining and funny climax, but actual events are in no way depicted as they were in real life regarding the infamous cult and its leader Charles Manson. The script just didn't seem to quite find its voice or direction. The editing needed to be tighter, and again, a lot of scenes should have been left on the cutting-room floor. One film I really admire with a similar tone is 'Kiss Kiss Bang Bang' (2005) which is probably a better and more entertaining film than this. I found myself hard to stay invested in the story and was suffering from cinematic fatigue by the time it was over.
'Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood' is a clear definition of an overly ambitious film that aimed high but hit low. I'm an admirer of many of Tarantino's works, but this certainly isn't a film I'd wanna watch again in theaters or even on television.