Cool, but poorly developed plot and character chemistry

Rating: 5/10 (30 September 2019)

Nice shots and atmosphere, especially of the cars (one of which has to be one of the most menacing in movie history). But the story feels too fragmented and without much development. And there's little trace of Tarantino's trademark gradually increasing tension. Instead there's a lot of people watching movies.
Fiction and real-life are mixed, but don't really blend together. The Sharon Tate plot feels separate from the rest, and Rick and Cliff are just witnesses to this plot and never really engaging with it. Even our dynamic duo mostly acts on their own. I miss the cooperation, chemistry and dialogue like Vincent and Jules had in Pulp Fiction. There's one scene where they comment a show together though, Beavis & Butthead style. Strange, but I'll take it.
The characters: Pitt is playing his coolest looking Robert Redford type character ever. He has a promising backstory, but it never plays out properly. And slick Leo never convinces me as an struggling cowboy actor from that era. He looks too contemporary and isn't interesting enough as an actor to play this character.
This is probably a film that's enjoyed fully if you're a old-school Hollywood fan and want to see it recreated, because the story, style and characters alone aren't that satisfying.