Tarantino at his comedic best

Rating: 8/10 (6 July 2020)

Contains mild spoilers:How hilarious is this film.It's fun, it's loose, it's casual, the acting is great and the cinematography is splendid and colourful. But above all else, in terms of the script and direction, it's Tarantino at his most self indulgent as a filmmaker and I love that about this film; because Tarantino is a director who wears his passion for cinema and influences on his sleeve so yeah give me more of it. It is indeed a love letter to Hollywood and cinema as a whole, you can see that in the attention to detail Tarantino and team put into the production design to recreate Hollywood boulevard to that level of perfection all the way down to the pamphlets in the windowsills, and it's Tarantino putting on his nostalgia goggles and mining through his youth for inspiration, which makes it personal for him and I like that, you can feel the passion.
Moreover, I also love that Tarantino chose to center his story on the day to day happenings of Hollywood movie making, the day in the life of the Hollywood actor ( a washed up, grasping at straws Hollywood actor, which adds a level of desperation, which I find interesting), the Hollywood stuntman, the casting agent, the cast and crew working on the sets. Just the kind of thing that makes a film fan like me very happy. I mean foreheavens sake the man directed a depiction of a fictional show within the film being directed(if that makes any sense) with camera movements and retakes and DiCaprio,as his character, hilariously messing up his lines. The scene just keeps going and going and holy crap did I love that, to be a fly on the wall like that I thought that was cool. Additionally, I feel this film is also kind of a love letter to cinephiles and cinemagoers as well. Particularly in the scene where Rick(Leonardo DiCaprio) and cliff(Brad Pitt) sit down together to watch Rick on t.v, the back and forth, and enthusiasm for what they love to talk about and experience together was relatable and to watch these two big stars depict something we've all done as movie fans was entertaining. Plus the friendship they have together felt very believable, you could see a story there stretching back a lot of years through the chemistry and dialogue of each interaction.
Not too mention Margot Robbie's performance, which was brief granted, but I think it was admirable; I felt it was subtle and humanised, it shows Sharon Tate the human being as appose to Sharon Tate the gruesome murder victim ( not saying it would necessarily be wrong to have that but it's a change of pace and something we've not really seen before) The supporting cast was terrific: Al Pacino, Kurt Russell, Margaret Qualley etc plus the Manson family storyline, which does weave in and out almost independently from the rest of the film but my God does it pay off. Culminating in a 3rd act no Tarantino fan is likely to forget anytime soon.
Overall this is a time period I love( the sun drenched streets of los Angeles in 1969 a time of great transformation and hippies galore!!!),Filled with some of my absolute favorite actors and directed by my favorite director of all time what's not to love. Tarantino shows it's okay to have a bit of fun and present a contraversial time in American history through rose coloured, nostalgia lenses instead of the intense sociopolitical landscape that it was. And by choosing to exlude, or in one particular case, reinterpret certain historical events doesn't make those events less important or significant.it's Tarantino's Hollywood fairytale and it works.