A vivid, nostalgic look into Hollywood as seen from the eyes of the stars

Rating: 8/10 (26 August 2019)

Firstly, I would like to start by mentioning that those that come into this film expecting to make comparisons to Tarantino's previous works may leave the cinema a little lost. This feels like Tarantino's docu-drama if there ever was one. As opposed to laying a solid, anticipatory story, 'Once Upon a Time' is a film which tells multiple mini-stories, giving the viewer a feel for a late 60s Hollywood and the changing landscape of film at the time.
Set over a period of months in 1969, Di Caprio and Pitt play an actor on his last legs and his loyal stunt double as they aim to keep running on the fast-paced movie industry conveyer-belt.
Over the course of a few months, Rick Dalton (Di Caprio) and Cliff Booth (Pitt) work a series of jobs that help them get by in the unforgiving Hollywood climate, or in the case of Dalton, aim to avoid 'unimportance'. Di Caprio's Dalton is emotionally stricken by his lack of leading man work and is a character who is a little too deeply connected to the top end of the film industry. This includes the alcoholism, the movie star bravado and even the accessory of a foreign wife that comes with life as a spaghetti-western A-lister.
Di Caprio is great at playing the emotionally turbulent and sometimes confidence-lacking Dalton, but it is truly Brad Pitt's Cliff Booth that steals the show. Pitt's cool, macho-but-modest, dog-loving stunt-man will undoubtedly be looked at as one of the most memorable Tarantino characters of all time. Booth is the cool, calm and collected to Dalton's unsure, uneasy and uninspired and this is at the centre of Pitt and Di Caprio's phenomenal on-screen chemistry.
A war-veteran turned stunt-man accused of killing his wife, Cliff Booth seems much more content with his life than his best friend Dalton does, despite the vast differences in their experiences and living conditions. Booth is not only Dalton's stuntman but his handyman, driver and overall caretaker and is aman who balances his pride and humility quite interestingly. Booth lives a simply life in his mobile home with his loyal dog Brandy but is red-blooded enough to pick a fight with Bruce Lee and end up losing his job over it.
It's this exact scene that sums up the film as a whole for me. 'Once Upon a Time' truly is a daydreamer's film. A nostalgic reverie of Hollywood's Golden Age, encapsulated perfectly by a topless Cliff Booth fixing an antennae on a roof in the Beverley Crest sun, thinking back fondly to getting fired for deservedly crushing Bruce Lee onto the side of his employer's car.
Margo Robbie co-stars, bringing fun and innocence to the role of Sharon Tate, depicting the late actress' final months prior to her tragic murder (which we'll cover later). Robbie barely says a word in the first 2 acts of the film but shows us a rare glimpse of normality, an angle rarely shown of movie stars. In once scene she spends an afternoon alone at the cinema, watching her performance in 'The Wrecking Crew' in the most non-narcissistic way humanly possible. She watches the film with the other movie goers in complete awe of their reactions; feeling almost overwhelmed when they laugh and cheer and reminiscing on her choreography during the fight scenes. Robbie fantastically portrays all of this emotion without barely uttering a word.
Aside from his trademark, unsurpassed style of screenplay, Tarantino's genius lies in bringing these stories and characters of fact and fiction together and blending them so simply and entertainingly. Although at times, Dalton's filmed scenes feel slow placed (probably because we know he is acting, ironically) the film's true power comes from something Tarantino brings to all his films: the ability to make simply conversations feel and sound so interesting. Cameos from Stevie McQueen (played by the surprisingly resemblant Damien Lewis) as well as Charles Manson himself also really add to the film's authentic feel.
Similar to the way 'Inglorious Basterds' flung historical accuracy out of the window in its 3rd act's insane Nazi massacre, 'Once Upon a Time' completely skips over the Manson murders and replaces it with the most thrilling part of the film where the Manson cult themselves are murdered in true Tarantino carnage. This arrives abruptly at a point where you (disappointedly) begin to think that this may be the least violent Tarantino flick since Jackie Brown. That's when it barges through the front door like an armed cult-member and all hell breaks lose. The scene is superbly directed but honestly, any home invasion involving the use of a can of dog food as a weapon and the unleashing of a flamethrower in a swimming pool is a must watch for any Tarantino fan. Because of these actions, the Manson murders are averted, and this is barely even touched on, creating an alternate reality where Tate isn't murdered; and all without non-informed movie goers even noticing. Well, then again, this is the same reality where Hitler was murdered in a cinema, I guess, so fair enough.
8.5/10 - Beautiful. Makes me think back to a time and culture that i've never actually experienced but have only seen on the small and silver screen. Fav film of the year