This movie requires a second viewing

Rating: 10/10 (3 April 2020)

Typical of most 3 hour long movies, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood requires a second viewing. The first time I watched it I missed out on a lot because I could only focus on what I wanted to happen next. Like "when does Sharon Tate get murdered?" Or "When are they going to stop talking about Brad and Leo's characters". I'm sure that's what a lot of you were thinking, and that's why you were so bummed about the length/pace of the movie. As was I on the first watch, and I gave it a 7/10 only because I really enjoyed the final scene that much. This movie upon second viewing made me appreciate the entire crew's effort with rebuilding 1960s Hollywood. That's not today I have the slightest clue what it looked like back then since I'm only 22, but it still looks completely different from today and QT is known to love that era. Leo puts in such an incredible performance all the way through the film and so does Brad. All their reactions feel so genuine, and that's why they make me laugh so hard every time I watch this movie. Although I think Leo gets the upper hand because he isn't from the south like Brad Pitt is. As someone from the south I can say 100% without a doubt Leonardo DiCaprio killed that accent. His even consistently kept a stutter every time that he was not acting. I also have to say they did a wonderful job showing the Mansion family and why they would be so annoying to normal/older folk at the time. They drag out sentences and they are all dirty as hell. Even if these folks weren't the typical hippies they were portrayed to be in the film, the movie isn't supposed to be entirely accurate hence the "Once Upon a Time...". The only thing that QT didn't completely nail is what Sharon did all day in the second act. The two other main characters both do exciting stuff (Rick Dalton acts and has like 3 mental breakdowns, and Cliff fixes Rick's satellite, has a 25 minute flashback scene, and meets all of the Mansion family). Sharon just wakes up, plays a kickass record, picks up a random hitchhiker, goes to a library, then watches her own movie at the a theater. The one thing that stood out about Sharon is that she is extremely sweet and charitable. It seems like this was either intentional to show us how innocent and sweet she was compared to the old school cowboy actors, or unintentional due to the fact that a lot of her storyline was edited out for runtime. If QT would've maybe spent more time with Sharon Tate instead of giving Brad Pitt's character all that time in the flashback and at the ranch, then this could've been an equally good but very different film. I really, really love when Cliff goes to spawn ranch, and the flashback scene. So it could go either way and the movie would still be a ten. One more thing, I absolutely LOVE the scene at the end of the day in the second act where the sun sets and that song kicks in. It shows Timothy Olyphant's character hopping on a motorcycle and driving home, Rick and Cliff driving home, and Sharon driving home. The song that plays is so perfect, and the way it is shot makes me feel so safe and cozy. But that's it, I give it a 10/10 after watching the movie 3 times and I never expected that after the first viewing.