Quentin Tarantino's worst movie thus far.

Rating: 4/10 (5 August 2019)

80% of this movie is yet another dig into the slams and jabs of what goes wrong and right for actors in the process of their careers. The problem with that - the Cohen Brothers did a much better job of that in the movie Hail Cesar. The remaining 20% takes a tongue-in-cheek-look at Sharron Tate and Charles Manson's 'Family'.
What's the matter with Quentin, did he suddenly go pussy on us in the telling of this story? What the hell is this all about? He wants you to somehow feel good about allowing Sharon Tate to live at the end? What a waste of two hours and forty minutes. There is no 'grit' in this movie. There is no 'street hard' dialogue to cling to. There are no original characters in this, save for Cliff Booth. Unfortunately, Cliff is just a sub plot in the whole scheme, and just played as a resurrected Lt. Aldo Raine character. Let's get to the rat-killing (the only gritty scene in the movie).
What went right?
Mike Moh nails Bruce Lee! Mike's voice and portrayal of Bruce Lee is better than any other on film. Leonardo DiCaprio (the main focus) is very good as the struggling-actor role, but totally unnecessary as a plot for the movie. The character Rick Dalton doesn't add anything to the story, other than Leonardo acted well doing it. Brad Pitt's Cliff Booth is the only character you really care about, though we've seen this Pitt character before (see below). The 10-minute scene at the Spahn Ranch, which has Cliff Booth pitting (pun intended) wits against the Manson Family. The Spahn Ranch scene is heads and tails the ONLY nail-biting scene in the movie. A few decent cameos (particularly Al Pacino & Kurt Russell), but you quickly forget about them once they're off-screen. Could've done this movie in 1:10, just to ensure you included some of the better BS scenes, and to toss in the few worthy cameos. Nice old cars. A decent cigarette ad during the credits - though even that was too long, as Tarantino should've left out the whole complaint afterwards, by Rick Dalton (just another hint that Quentin is getting pussy on us and doesn't want to 'promote' smoking, even though he fills his films with more tobacco then you can harvest in all of Cuba!)
What went wrong?
Boring. Twenty seconds of a worthy eyebrow raise - followed by twenty minutes of crap. It's an hour and a half too long. Brad Pitt is just playing Lt. Aldo Raine once again, with the same mannerisms, voice inflections and sarcastic glances. The scenes involving Damian Lewis as Steve McQueen and Rafal Zawierucha as Roman Polanski, leave you scratching your head with a bewildered 'what the hell did we see that for?' Ten minutes of a party scene at the Playboy Mansion - huh - why??? You never care about Margot Robbie's depiction of Sharron Tate, because we all know what happens to her in real life. Let's also not forget that Sharron Tate was never an A-list actress. If not for getting killed in the crime of the century, it's doubtful she'd ever be remembered. As a matter of fact, the whole Tate-Murder-Influence in this picture was worthless and an utter waste of film (save the afore mentioned scene at the Spahn Ranch). Unfortunately, Quentin's true-life youthful crush on Sharron Tate, dominates this movie. Take all of Sharron Tate's influence on this movie, and you end up with something much more appealing and Tarantino-esque. If you want to tell the Tate murder - tell the Tate murder, which is what we were all waiting for. If you want to remake Hail Cesar, you get a worthy-effort nod, but adding in the Tate-Manson angle, just sank this film.
Go back to re-making movies Quentin, your latest 'original' stuff, sucks.