I was going to try and produce a nifty spoiler-free review on this one but, in order to talk about it properly, I am going to make reference to the end of the film a little so, if you haven’t watched it yet and are planning to do so, consider yourself suitably shied away from this here post.
I’ve been a fan of Tarantino’s work since watching Reservoir Dogs at the cinema over 25 years ago. In fact, it was Tarantino along with Kevin Smith and Robert Rodriguez who made me believe that feature filmmaking was possible for someone who didn't have a major studio budget behind them (“inspiration” or “blame - you can choose on that one). That’s not to say that I’ve uncritically enjoyed all his films - in my view, Inglorious Basterds and Django Unchained both could have benefited from tighter editing on some scenes. That said, I’m always going to watch a new Tarantino effort. So watch it I did.
Once Upon A Time In Hollywood
Dir. Quentin Tarantino / Dur. 161 mins
In A Nutshell:- Fact and fiction collide in a love letter to film and TV of the ‘60s as fading TV star Rick Dalton and his stuntman Cliff navigate their way through Hollywood life.
The Good:- There’s a certain style and feel to a Tarantino film in terms of dialogue, character and look that’s very much present and correct here. His love of playing with the form of film is present in the scenes presented from various different TV shows and films (as well as authentic posters for the films Dalton makes, notably the Spaghetti Westerns). Di Caprio and Pitt are on good form and bounce off each other well,convincingly portraying the friendship between the two men. It’s a fairly languidly paced and meandering film but that actually works in its favour. For a film that’s nearly three hours, it doesn’t outstay its welcome, largely in part due to the compelling screen presences of Di Caprio and Pitt. It’s a more contemplative affair than some of Tarantino’s other works, musing on the fleeting nature of fame and the fickle nature of being a lead in Hollywood - today’s hero lead is tomorrow’s bit part bad guy. It;s also always nice to spot soke Tarantino regulars turn up throughout the film (hi, Micahel Madsen!).
The Bad:- Margot Robbie is completely underutilised as Sharon Tate, seeming to spend most of the film either dancing or watching herself at the cinema. Which brings us on to the main thing that I’m not sure about with this film - the blending of real life characters and situations into a fictional film. For me, there’s something about it that doesn’t quite sit - from the unnecessary and cartoonishly caricatured sequence with Bruce Lee through to the Inglorious Basterds-style rewriting of events at the climax of the film, there was something about using a fictionalised version of real people that just seemed a bit off.
The Verdict:- Despite my misgivings about the blend of fact and fiction, I still enjoyed the film overall. While not on a par with the early films like Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, I’d say that it gets much closer to those than previous efforts like Inglorious Basterds and Django Unchained. If you like Tarantino films, you won't be disappointed by this one.
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