Kick Back, Relax, and Soak in the Splendor of Tarantino's Hollywood

Rating: 9/10 (3 August 2019)

Of the handful of elite directors still working today (a number that has dwindled in the past two decades), Quentin Tarantino is the undisputed leader in "cool". He makes movies that sync to the movie geek's unexplored subconscious. Movies that can be both literate and silly, and can harmonize these opposing ideas into pristine cinematic art. Tarantino is a director who can make a woman's hanging feel poignant, or a monologue about Superman feel positively riveting. He specializes in creating the cinematic equivalents of adrenaline shots to the heart. His newest film, Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood, is not that type of "cool". It's not the thrilling, electro-charged, go-for-broke mad genius mayhem of Tarantino's best movies, but rather something quieter, more laid back, groovier.
Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood doesn't necessarily have a plot. At least not the kind that moves linearly from beginning to end. The story roams around the events, people, and places involved in the Manson Family Murders of 1969, but we are privy to only glances. Our protagonists are aging leading man Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his stunt double and friend Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt). It's hard to describe these characters' story in movie terms. The film follows them, but not through a journey or a mystery or a caper, but through their everyday life. Rick on the set of a western TV show, Cliff fixing a TV antenna while reminiscing about the time he challenged Bruce Lee to a fight. In actuality, the movie is almost entirely made up of such scenes. Interesting vignettes of Hollywood life.
In the moment, these don't seem to have a purpose. I can imagine a lot of people (Tarantino fans included) thinking to themselves around the middle of the film, "What's the point here?". The thought never crossed my mind though because I was too busy admiring the craft. For starters, we have a trio of brilliant performances from three of our greatest modern movie stars. DiCaprio and Pitt, neither of whom I find to have upper echelon acting talent, are given roles that play directly to the strengths they do possess. DiCaprio has room to go way over the top playing an actor who is trying to literally act his way out of irrelevance. He has always had a tendency to overact, but it works for this character. The same goes for Pitt, who too often underacts. He is gifted here with a character whose steely, tough guy personality fits him like a glove. Pitt settles into a comfortable groove with Cliff, centered and in control at all times, while adding an unexpected warmth not often seen from this type of character or Pitt himself. It's his best performance in years. The third great performance comes from Margot Robbie, an emerging classic Hollywood starlet playing a classic Hollywood starlet who was robbed of her chance to emerge. Robbie in a small, but vital role, radiates with innocent charm. Her function in the film is as a monument to a lost time, place, and feeling. Her performance has to be bigger than reality. It is just that; an idolized tribute to aspiring actresses, and to a larger extent, the good vibes of the 60s.
The other thing keeping the vignettes fresh is Tarantino's direction. He's always been a limber, creative filmmaker, not afraid to surprise the audience with something utterly unexpected. He plays with time, narration, and story structure with giddy enthusiasm and a straight face. This manifests itself in Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood through his delightfully stubborn insistence on letting entire scenes play out. We've been conditioned to expect a certain pace in our films. We expect to get the desired information, and move on. Trim the fat. This film is plenty fat. We don't get a glimpse of Rick Dalton's TV work. We get a full recreation of a 'Rifleman'-style shootout. We don't get one shot of Booth driving a Coupe Deville across the Sunset Strip, we get long, almost action-set-piece-y montages. Indulgent, yes, but endlessly watchable.
Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood is among the least "exciting" of Tarantino's work. It doesn't have the wild supercharged energy of Kill Bill or the thrilling character dynamics of The Hateful Eight, but that doesn't make it less of a film. And it's not to undersell this film's ending in which we are accosted by an explosion of violence so insane you can't help but cackle with glee. It's fifteen minutes of wacko brilliance. But for the most part, Tarantino's 9th picture is a mellow affair. A refreshing and wonderful elegy to a lost time. It's a collection of some of the best acted and directed scenes of the past five years. A much needed gift to those of us who still treasure good old-fashioned grown-up entertainment, with plenty to savor afterwards.
91/100