If Another Director Had Made This, It Would Have Been Panned

Rating: 2/10 (31 July 2019)

I just finished watch Once Upon A Time In Hollywood. I had read all the spoilers, and criticisms ahead of the movie, and I have to say, the negative points were spot on. Too many pointless scenes (the scene where he talks to the child actress could have been edited out without losing her effectiveness in a later scene); all of the driving around should have been trimmed, it felt like filler.
The movie had very little or no focus. It kept doing different things, including silly little flashbacks and vignettes a la Family Guy, in an attempt to be humorous, but came across as flat and kept disrupting the momentum of the plot, which was barely there.
I get the sense that Tarantino came up with the ending first, then had to fight to come up with a half decent story to fill in the first part of his idea. Because this felt like two different movies edited together, the first part the overly long, boring one. And then the last part set 6 months later where the Manson family is portrayed as a bunch of buffoons, instead of the evil doers they really were.
And speaking of Manson, he only had one scene, and it actually made him seem very friendly. Then we never see him again. He's referred to by his first name every so often, but you never get the sense that he was in charge. Even at the end, the kids come up with their own ideas and plan, instead of the original. So, what was the point of that? And the ending just trivializes the tragedy of what really happened by turning into a comical piece of entertainment. Anyone who didn't know the actual details of the crime will be in for a shock when they read about it.
This movie would have been heavily criticized and panned had another director made it. But because it's Tarantino, people give it a pass. Ultimately, this will stand as one of Tarantino's weakest films. He's had three in a row now, and I fear for the Star Trek franchise with him at the helm of the next movie.
Once Upon A Time...Tarantino used to make good movies....