Once Upon a Time . . . in Hollywood (2019) Director: Quentin Tarantino Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Emile Hirsch Genres: Comedy, Drama (courtesy IMDb), Historical IMDb Synopsis: "A faded television actor and his stunt double strive to achieve fame and success in the film industry during the last of Hollywood's Golden Age in 1969 Los Angeles" |
“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” is the latest film from auteur director Quarantine Tarantula, starring Leo “I’ll sleep in a bear for an Oscar” DiCaprio as aging star Rick Dalton, Brad Pitt as his suave, possibly sociopathic stuntman/friend Cliff Booth, and a smattering of other stars as… other stars.
Straightaway, this film is gorgeous. 1960’s California has been painstakingly recreated and stunningly shot, with a nice layer of period music to set the tone (I'll probably be buying the soundtrack for this one). The details are super-precise: the clothes, the cars, everything right down to the armpit hair on the hippie chicks - and it’s incredibly immersive.
Cliff Booth sports a bright Hawaiian shirt that perfectly fits his character. Both the leads are fantastic - Leo is this neurotic, has-been diva of an actor whose self-respect is so fragile that he can be moved to tears by a kind word from his eight-year-old costar, and Pitt persists unfazed as a tough-guy stuntman with a seedy past, able to just roll with all the craziness around him.
This felt a lot like a Coen Brothers flick, akin to No Country or A Serious Man, as we follow a tenuously connected series of events and merely gauge the characters’ reactions. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, but there’s really no grand narrative here, and if there are themes to be found, they’re buried deeply.
This film will probably be hailed by erudite critics as “Tarantino’s love letter to the Golden Age of Hollywood,” and to that I ask, does Hollywood need any more love letters? Seems like there’s enough self-aggrandizement in that town as it is.
But that’s not to say I didn’t enjoy the movie. The stars and the supporting cast are excellent, and a lot of humor is derived from their offbeat interactions (see: Bruce Lee). But if you prefer, as I do, a tight, deliberate story with a clear destination, this movie might throw you for a loop. There are a couple of sly narrative misdirects, mostly involving the notorious Charles Manson subplots that were all over the trailers.
“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” is a very relaxing film about a couple friends leading mostly mundane lives, until the last twenty minutes arrive and Tarantino reminds us what he’s really about. The runtime might be a deterrent for some, but at the very least, give this one a chance on streaming with a couple buddies and more than a couple beers. Just stay away from the acid-dipped cigarettes.
Late Work: Okay, so Margot Robbie is the third-billed lead as real-life actress Sharon Tate, but she’s got so little to do that she’s not really even worth mentioning in the main 500. A lot of other writers have been very critical about this, but it mostly didn’t bother me so I’m just gonna mention it here.
Extra Credit: Flamethrowers. Enough said.
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