A NEW TARANTINO CLASSIC

Rating: 10/10 (17 February 2020)

Quentin Tarantino's long but enjoyable retro trip back to the late 60s in Hollywood, California just before the brutal Manson murders. It concerns a fading television cowboy star named Rick Dalton, played brilliantly by Leonardo DiCaprio who earned an Oscar and Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Actor for his unforgettable performance, and his aging longtime devout stunt-double and best friend Cliff Booth, marvelously played by Brad Pitt who won an Oscar and Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor for his impressively endearing turn, who was also a war hero that now does very little stunt work, he is more a driver and gofer for Dalton. DiCaprio and Pitt have an endearing chemistry that is the heart of the film. Dalton has made some bad choices that has set his career back, and his pushy agent, Marvin Schwartz, wonderfully played by Al Pacino, has talked him into making some Spaghetti westerns in Europe, which he hates the thought of doing, but does it anyway. He returns to Los Angeles after shooting these films with his new Italian wife, Francesca, nicely played by Lorenza Izzo, to face an uncertain future in Hollywood. Dalton's next-door neighbors are film director Roman Polanski and his gorgeous actress wife Sharon Tate, wonderfully played by the stunningly beautiful Margot Robbie. But unbeknownst to Dalton, Cliff and Francesca is that they are about to become unwittingly entangled with the murderous Manson family. As slow-paced and sometimes uneven as this extraordinary film is, it is still an unique piece of virtuoso film making, especially the shocking hyper-violent climactic alternate reality ending which is pure Tarantino, and absolutely jaw-dropping. Masterful Oscar nominated direction by Tarantino who also wrote the captivating Oscar nominated and Golden Globe Award winning original screenplay, and gives his film flawless period detail, and magnificent Oscar nominated cinematography by Robert Richardson. Exceptional supporting performances by Al Pacino, Kurt Russell, Emile Hirsch, Margaret Qualley, Timothy Olyphant, Julia Butters, Dakota Fanning, Bruce Dern, Luke Perry, Damian Lewis, Michael Madsen, James Remar, Danielle Harris, Clifton Collins Jr., Marco Rodriguez, and Rumer Willis. Nominated for 10 Academy Awards including Best Picture. A new classic! Highly recommended.