Thursday, August 8, 2019

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, literally everyone else in a bit part
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Running Time: 2 hours, 41 minutes
Rating: R

Let me begin this review by saying that I'm a huge Quentin Tarantino fan. I'll also remind you that Leo is my all-time #1. I've loved Brad Pitt since I watched "Legends of The Fall" at a too-young 8 years old. Margot Robbie is one of my top 5 girl crushes. So it pains me - nearly KILLS me - to write a less than absolutely stellar review of this film. I think I'm the only person I've heard of that did not love what others are calling Tarantino's "masterpiece". I did enjoy the film, but it was quite a departure from your typical Tarantino flick. What I love so much about his films was not present here. I'm very prepared for my readers to revolt and call me crazy, but this is my honest reaction.

Leo is pretty spectacular as Rick Dalton, an aging (hardly) but still beautiful action/Western star. Brad Pitt plays Cliff Booth, Rick's aging (hardly) but still beautiful stunt double from the beginning of Rick's career, but lately fills more of a buddy and support system role. The two drink their way from meetings to movie sets and back to Rick's pad in the Hollywood Hills, where he resides by 60's starlet Sharon Tate and her husband Roman Polanski. Margot Robbie resembles Tate so eerily well and gives an understated performance here. I would have loved for the entire movie's focus to be about her (I think all of America is so fascinated by this story) but perhaps that level of mystery just adds to the intrigue. I don't think Quentin gave her enough to do in this film. I also hoped that Quentin would take us somewhere brilliant with the Leo/Brad storyline. Unfortunately, we never got there.

As a film buff, I thought the scenes where we see Rick on-set were fascinating, but perhaps there were one too many of them. Some of Leo's strongest scenes are when he's chatting with his 8 going on 50-year-old co-star (Julia Butters) and when he berates himself for being a washed-up drunk, only to follow this tantrum with nailing a scene in one take. Rick is clearly having an identity crisis - his talent and good looks are still there, but his hard-partying past and younger competition are beginning to run him out of town.

Meanwhile, Cliff is out having his own adventure. The film takes place in late 1960's Hollywood, when the Manson Family slowly began to sink their teeth into society. In one scene, Cliff drives a hitchhiker (Margaret Qualley) home to the Manson Family compound. What begins as an incredibly riveting and unnerving scene falls terribly flat. I'm really not sure what Quentin was going for in some of these long and drawn-out scenes that didn't lead us anywhere. That's his style, but typically, the wait is worth it.

Blink and you'll miss an incredible supporting cast that are each given about 7 minutes of screen time. If you're a Tarantino fan, I'd love to know your reaction to this film. I think my bar was set so freaking high with this cast, concept and director, that it was impossible to meet. There was no way I was going to love it as much as I expected, and sadly, I didn't. This didn't make my top 5 Tarantino films ("Pulp Fiction", "Kill Bill: Volume 2", "Kill Bill: Volume 1", "Django Unchained" and "Jackie Brown", in case you care) but it's one I would re-watch eventually, and may need to sooner than later so I can try to understand what all the hype is about. I'm just not in any rush to spend another 2 hours and 40 minutes(!) trying.