'It's official, old buddy. I'm a has been'

Rating: 8/10 (13 December 2019)

Viewing ONCE UPON A TIME...IN HOLLYWOOD is a visit to the 1960s - California/Hollywood style. Quentin Tarantino both wrote and directed this very long and lugubrious film that features some very fine acting but requires more than a dollop of patience to make it to the clever final scene.
The 'idea' is to recreate Hollywood and the months leading up to the entrance of Charles Manson's tribe, as the infamous night in 1969 becomes a theatrical twist of facts. Leonardo DiCaprio is convincing as a has-been action star Rick Dalton and Brad Pitt is excellent as his stunt double Cliff Booth. Tarantino convincingly intertwines tidbits of the life of Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie) and Roman Polanski (Rafal Zawierucha) and their third party Jay Sebring (Emil Hirsch), leading us to think the film will end with the Tate et al murders, but the road to that end is twisted and cleverly altered - like Hollywood. Other key actors include the very fine young Julia Butters, Al Pacino, Bruce Dern, Luke Perry, Timothy Olyphant, Margaret Qualley et al.
The movie is very long, spending an excessive amount of focus on cigarette smoking and the use of the 'f word' and endless cinematic production takes, but the overall effect of the film - in retrospect - is how clever Tarantino used these 'flaws' to bring the 60's Hollywood to life. This may not be a film for everyone, but the piece works - it just needs patience.