The third great movie this year

Rating: 9/10 (17 December 2019)

Joker, The Irishman and Once Upon A Time in Hollywood are three majestic movies. To get all three in one year is special. OUATIH had me wondering just what Tarantino was going to do with DiCaprio and Pitt in a movie. I'd heard that the movie is a homage to Hollywood and Los Angeles circa 1969 and that's what it proved to be. People have moaned that it's boring. Well it's not Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction or any other of Tarantino's movies. It's affectionate, funny, sometimes sad and ultimately it finishes on a the kind of a bang that those of us of a certain age would find most satisfactory. It's a long movie but always engrossing. DiCaprio and Pitt deliver and there's real chemistry between them. DiCaprio plays a TV Western star who's slowly coming up to his sell-by date. Pitt his friend, gofer and stuntman. DiCaprio's character, Rick Dalton, is depressed, a borderline alcoholic, desperate that his career never rose above the TV level (he does some Italian westerns for exposure and the money and ends up with an Italian bride and not much money due to his lifestyle in Rome). Brad Pitt's character, Cliff Booth, is as realistic as Brad Dalton is as a cowboy. He's eternally smiling, happy to run his friend around, do odd jobs around Brad's house and can kick a$$ really well - he even gets to kick Bruce Lee's a$$ in the movie so realism is not the first priority but he is a lot of fun to watch.
Margot Robbie plays Sharon Tate and her character is presented as someone angelic, very sweet and so excited about her film roles. As the movie ran on I decided that I really did not want to see her butchered so I gave up on it. I then discovered that Tarantino had done what he had done with Inglorious Basterds and changed history. I'll just say that the climax of the movie will make many people cheer (especially for the four-legged star), I know I did!
This has become my favorite Tarantino movie and it demonstrates beautifully that the guy can write with a lot of affection as well as being quite vicious in his writing. This is not a film for those who need lots of hardcore Tarantino.
The end title music is from the end titles of The Life and Times Of Judge Roy Bean and is a beautiful piece of music by Maurice Jarre. It's the perfect end to a nearly perfect movie. This movie deserves to be considered in the same class as Joker and The Irishman, it's that good.