Darkest picture of Hollywood since DAY OF THE LOCUST

Rating: 8/10 (15 August 2019)

Once we learn that DiCaprio's neighbors in the Hollywood Hills are Roman Polanski and Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie), the viewer has an uncomfortable feeling about where this story is going to end. Except that it doesn't - exactly. Tarantino has a few tricks up his sleeve. Doesn't he always?
All Quentin's trademarks are here. Weird camera angles. Sudden short flashbacks. A loud score of pop hits. Non-stop profanity. Graphic violence, of course, even before the gory climax. There's an ever-present sense of homage to yesteryear Hollywood. At 2 hours 41 minutes the movie is a long haul, and your expectations of where it's going are a major element of the suspense. ONCE UPON A TIME is more coherent than PULP FICTION or KILL BILL. Solid performances from DiCaprio and Brad Pitt are the glue that holds it together. Bruce Lee and Steve McQueen are grafted a bit clumsily onto the screenplay, along with Tate And Polanski.
This is the darkest study of Hollywood since John Schlesinger's DAY OF THE LOCUST (1975). It leaves a nasty taste, but I guess that's another Tarantino trademark.