Fantasy with reality on the margins

Rating: 8/10 (2 September 2019)

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Written and directed by Quentin Tarantino
I love cinema. I love going to the movies. I can appreciate where Quentin Tarantino is coming from. He loves the movies as well. He loves everything about Hollywood and the movies. That is this movie. This movie is about immersing yourself in the world of Rick Dalton, a western actor doing television on his way down and his best friend/stunt man Cliff Booth who comes with his own set of baggage.
This movie is a series of vignettes about different situations ranging from Cliff Booth at the Spahn Ranch with the Manson Family, Rick acting in a pilot for a new western and Sharon Tate watching herself in her movie enjoying the reactions of the crowd. This is about the process of making movies. It is about the process of watching what you create. It is the fantasy of the dream factory in a nutshell.
However it is also about the process of change. Change is inevitable. Change can be painful. Change can also be good. Change can be terrifying. You have to be alright with it in some fashion otherwise it can run you over. You have to find your groove in it.
I've heard this movie described as a hangout movie and this is a very apt description. You're hanging out at the movies with these characters. You're hanging out on the set watching everyone work. You're hanging out with the Manson Family. You're driving down Hollywood Blvd. You're listening to music from the 60s on the radio. You're making boxed mac and cheese while watching TV.
It is these two characters' journey. All the other characters are just orbiting around them. The title is important though. The movie does take place in recognizable place and time. It features people you know but it is not reality. It is a fairy tale. It is the dream factory as I mentioned before. They live inside the fantasy. They live inside their characters. Messy reality is just outside the edges. Vietnam is briefly mentioned. You see some of the downtrodden on Hollywood.
He does get into the Manson family. Not really Charles Manson though. He shows up once. It's part of the messy reality edging in through the outsides. He does something similar to what he did to the Nazis in Inglourious Basterds, the Ku Klux Klan in Django Unchained to the Manson Family. He turns them into goofballs. He saps all the menace out of them.
If you're a fan of Quentin Tarantino, this movie is for you. If you're a fan of cinema, this movie is for you. It's an original film set adrift in a sea of sequels, spin offs and reboots. I give this movie a B.