Absolutely fantastic (but not everyone will think so)

Rating: 9/10 (29 July 2019)

To put it simply, the first two hours or so meanders about through Rick's problems, his friendship with Cliff, and wildly entertaining personalities from the era (Bruce Lee, Roman Polanski, Sharon Tate.. ). This portion of the movie doesn't have a straight plot to follow and some viewers may not appreciate it. However, I would defend this segment as a stroll in the 1960's through movies and television. This is really a movie about movies/stars/Hollywood after all. It is nonetheless, very well put together.
There is a generous portion of hippie punching, degradation and abuse (to put it lightly). Some viewers may not appreciate this.
There aren't any strong female leads but Margo Robbie is excellent as happy, go-lucky starlet Sharon Tate. Some viewers may not appreciate this. I'm sure there will be no shortage of woke outrage that Robbie/Tate isn't deep thinking and.. 'powerful' (because you know, it's 2019).
The key takeaway here: "Once Upon a Time.." is a buddy movie and it does feel targeted a bit toward men. There is definitely strong violence and a lot of derogatory language... in other words, a Tarantino movie.
TLDR: Don't go to a Tarantino movie and rage about it being a Tarantino movie.