Not For Everyone

Rating: 9/10 (3 March 2020)

This is a tough one to rate. On the one hand there is an abundance of brilliance here too long to list, not the least of which is the acting. DiCaprio's performance was nothing short of Oscar-worthy. Besides being fully immersed in his roles within his role, even his subtle expressions, body language, and timing were impeccable and unique to each character he portrayed, including "commercials". The Art doesn't get any better than this!
Brad Pitt's character was my favorite part of the show. His Cliff Booth (stuntman, best bud) was the epitome of "cool", and a total joy to watch. There was so much charisma even in his silence, that I didn't even blink when he was on because I didn't want to miss a beat. Whether it's a movie or a TV show, the most entertaining characters are always those supremely confident winners with a flippant sense of humor (like James Spader in The Blacklist, or Tommy Lee Jones in MIB). The way he dealt with the Bruce Lee character and the "hippies", with his trademark grin and total lack of fear, were, to me, the highlights of the film.
So while I feel the flick deserves accolades and high ratings for its layers upon layers of genius - if I had to rate it for overall enjoyment, or for its rank in the movies of my life that I loved - it would be way down to, oh, I think two stars. Why? Because I am a woman and this is a movie written and directed by a man, depicting mostly men and manly themes, for a male audience.
If you would enjoy seeing a WHOLE lotta spitting, smoking, Old West saloons, old time macho movie clips, fights, blood, and gory violence... you'll love this! I paid very little attention to those scenes because they bored me and/or turned my stomach. But this movie had divergent storylines, and the one with Brad Pitt had more of a plot (as opposed to montages of movie clips and industry nods) and was of much more interest to me. At the end it all came together, albeit in the kind of Tarantino style that appeals more to males than females.
I did like the dog though.