Smug film with plenty of clever references, but overall not enjoyable

Rating: 4/10 (2 August 2019)

Quentin Tarantino's style is almost overcrowding this film, which is not an easy task at 2h40m. You have your nod at the kong-fu film industry, Nazi and other post-WW2 film references, and of course plenty of Westerns from the period. There is sex, violence, a bit of comedy, and combinations of all 3.
Overall, however, the movie seems like a string of unrelated events, clips and clever nods, without ever summing up to anything meaningful. The two main characters hang out, get drunk, get into a bit of trouble, but that's pretty much it. Maybe this is intentional, because that's how pop films were typically structured in the era? I'm not an expert on trashy 60s films, so I wouldn't know. Me and my friends were bored, and left the movie feeling like we wasted our time watching an episode of 'The way we were' about Hollywood's glorious 60s.
If you're a big fan of the period, you might find all the allusions and nods fun to watch. For the average, non-neckbearded viewer, I don't think watching this would be much more than a weird experiment in recreating a dead genre, but with Brad Pitt and Leonardo DeCaprio (along with many other famous actors). Sorry, it's just not that great.