Once Upon a Time In Hollywood

I've never been a huge fan of Quentin Tarantino.

I recognize that he is a good director, he has a deep love for cinema, and he has enough clout that at one point or another, I'm probably going to check out his films. But there are only one or two of his films that I truly enjoy, he's an arrogant asshole in real life (at least in almost every interview I've seen of him), and overall, it's not a matter of him not being good, his films just aren't my preference. So when he says that he's retiring after his 10th film and there's a lot of speculation what that film might be, I kind of shrug. First off, I don't totally believe he'll just be done, but even if he is, while I understand the cultural significance as he had had an impact on the way movies are made, I don't feel like I'll be super bummed out. But again, its more personal preference rather than objective criticism.

But when a friend of mine invited me to go see it, I thought why not and settled in for Tarantino's 9th feature length film.

There are a couple of branches to the story set forth in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, but the main plot centers on a television actor by the name of Rick Dalton (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) at the end of the 1960s and his stunt double and good friend, Cliff Booth (played by Brad Pitt).

Dalton finds himself at a point in his acting career where he's not being picked as the leading man as much as he used to be and he spends the entire movie trying to reconcile that fact and figure out a way to get back on top. Meanwhile, Cliff Booth is his blue collar stuntman who has a run in with the Manson family at a critical point in history relevant to Rick Dalton's neighbor, Sharon Tate (played by Margot Robbie).

So I thought the plot for this movie was pretty vague before I saw it and honestly, thinking about it now, it's still a little vague. I understand if people have some trouble actually explaining what this movie is all about because it is a little scattered. However, it's an organized scattered plot that I enjoyed for the most part.

The beef of this story is these guys dealing with getting into their twilight years and watching them reconcile that fact. I think some people thought this movie was going to be really focused on the Manson Family and the murder of Sharon Tate... and its really not.

Is the stuff with Dalton and Boothe bad? Quite the contrary. These two aren't just really good actors, they're also super funny together. They're probably the highlight of the movie and why I think I enjoyed my time in the movie.

But the majority of the movie is just watching Dalton the set of a movie while Boothe is kind of just meandering around being a badass. Sure Sharon Tate is in the movie, but she doesn't really do anything.

Without getting into spoilers, the movie does touch on the Manson family and the events of August 8th, 1969.

Those scenes are fun. There's a little suspense that kept me interested. The Manson family is a fascinating part of 1960s and 70s history so its not surprising that people thought this was going to be Tarantino's take on those events the same way he's tackled stuff like World War 2 and slavery in the South.

But this isn't that movie. It's a fun character piece for DiCaprio and Pitt and those guys have a blast doing it. But you might be left wanting more if you came for the Manson and Sharon Tate story lines.

There's a really great scene at the end, but I worry that people might get caught up in how awesome that scene is and not really acknowledge the fact that this movie certainly did not need to be 2 hours and 40 minutes.

I suppose the other fun part about the film was the high level actors playing the big stars and icons of the time. There are tons of cameos and fun roles to go around whether they are big or small in the grand scheme of the movie.

The movie also has a lot of really great scenes where they are romanticizing the films of the time frame and inserting Rick Dalton into that pop culture zeitgeist. It's funny, it's nostalgic, its a fun little period piece.

But I'm not gonna kid anybody and say this is some kind of masterpiece film. It's been called "a love letter" to the time period and age of film but it just kind of feels like a Hollywood self congratulations at times saying, "Aren't we great?" and I gotta say, it's movies like this that give some credence to people who believe that the entertainment business in Hollywood is just up its own ass and really disconnected from reality.

But that's not really relevant to this movie honestly. There is a lot to love about this film.

It's funny, it's got great performances all around from DiCaprio, to Pacino, to Luke Perry's final performance, to even Maya Hawke (Robin from Stranger Things) in a very small role. It's a fun time. I think I just wish that Tarantino had had a little more fun with it honestly.

If you're going to create this "fairy tale tribute" set in a very specific period of time that doesn't really

have a firm sense of historical accuracy, why not double down on it?

Use the incredibly talented Margot Robbie a lot more than just a bunch of scenes where she's dancing to music or fulfilling Tarantino's weird foot fetish (it's weirdly prevalent in this film by the way). Actually use Sharon Tate in a more constructive way towards the plot.

You have Mike Moh playing Bruce Lee in a way that, while some people saw it as controversial, is a fun take on a person. Why not make him more integral to the plot instead of a cute little cameo where he gets in a fight with Brad Pitt?

Overall, it's a fine movie, it just could have been more and as a result, not really anything I'd spend money to go see again. Maybe if its on a streaming service in the future, I might check it out again. But at the end of the day, it's probably not Tarantino's best film.

I find it interesting that this movie made a lot of money. While its for sure an entertaining movie, I think the main reason that is the case is because Tarantino himself is a brand these days. His movies are more akin to Marvel movies rather than an artistic style in the sense that I think a lot of people saw this film because it was the "next Tarantino film". Not to say that he's not a director that people can enjoy for his work, but I feel as though he's become more of a zeitgeist figure and I think that's where my criticism comes of this movie. It's less a work of art like his previous films, and instead just an installment of the Tarantino canon. I'll give him credit, most directors don't reach that status, but it does not automatically make a film good.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is a fine movie. I enjoyed it. I'll leave any other interpretation up to you if you decide to go see it, but I think its made enough money, you could probably wait for a streaming service or rental at this point.

But those are my thoughts on Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. What did you think of the film? Where does it rank in the Tarantino filmography? Comment and Discuss below! You can also send me your thoughts on Twitter @MovieSymposium as well as requests for films I should review in the future. If you follow me on Twitter, you can get updates on future movie news and reviews coming out of this blog.

Thanks for reading!