Tarantino Does It Again (No Surprise There)

Rating: 8/10 (31 July 2019)

Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood Review:
Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood is the ninth film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. It follows a faded television actor, Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his stunt double, Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) as they strive to achieve fame and success in the film industry during the final years of Hollywood's Golden Age in 1969 Los Angeles. Throughout the film we see three different stories with Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, and Margot Robbie as Sharon Tate and how the film industry has treated them. All you need is the name Quentin Tarantino to make literally anyone excited for this film. I haven't seen all of his films but from every one I saw there hasn't been one that was just mediocre or even just fine. He does something special with his writing and directing. It all feels so real and believable. The scenes suck the audience in and all the sudden we're living in whatever setting he has created. In this case L.A. 1969. Along with the setting it feels like we know the characters as well. Yes, there are some familiar names like Sharon Tate, Roman Polanski, and Charles Manson, but even with the fictional characters they feel real. There wasn't a single bad performance in this film. I'm not saying this was bad or anything but there was narration at the beginning of the film, and then it just stopped until the very end. It either needed to be throughout the duration of the film or just not at all. I did enjoy the narration but it felt out of place. Anyway, DiCaprio portrays a faded TV star coping with alcohol very well. The comedy mixed with the tragedy of it all is just so entertaining to watch. Brad Pitt's character is so laid back and doesn't care that no one knows who he is. He's also just a clever badass and it really shows during the climax. Cliff and Rick are always together and their bond was so strong. I loved seeing them together and it was probably my favorite aspect of the film. Cliff also has a dog and I just loved his relationship with the dog and how similar the two were. For some reason I really liked the Sharon Tate side story. The Manson murders have interested me and everyone knows about Sharon Tate, but the Hollywood side of the story for her just was enjoyable to watch. First of all, Margot Robbie is such a great actress and I thought she did very well portraying Sharon Tate. She was just a lovable character. There's a scene where she's watching herself in the movies and I loved it. The expressions on her face while watching herself just put a smile on my face. Also they used actually footage which I thought was a good idea. Speaking of the old film footage this actually looked and felt like a 60s classic film. The cinematography had that old, grainy look to it. It just looked good in general capturing the tone. The music choices brought a nostalgic feel to it, even though I wasn't born back enough to be alive around then, also making it feel more like the 60s. Tarantino has a way of making serious moments comedic and just blending in comedy very well. The tone just always feels right. The climax has an array of emotions all happening quickly and there's not much time to process, but the tone felt perfect. That was by far the best 15 minutes of the film. I will say some of it dragged on a little at parts. Some shots were longer than they needed to be and a few things could've been cut out. All of his films are long so it was expected. The production design was very good as well. It's harder to make films in a different time period, especially when there's many settings that have to be used throughout the duration of it. Overall I thought this was a pretty good film. The crowd felt right for it and made for an enjoyable time. It will definitely be a contender for this upcoming award season so I would highly recommend seeing it. Not just for it being a contender but it's also a good film.
My Grade: A-