Love him or hate him, it is undeniable that this man knows how to make a wildly divisive movie. Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is his newest that is certain to stir both controversy and inescapable arguments online. While this film is far from his best and far from the auteur style that he has become known for, there is still a lot to like about this. The performances are fantastic, the world-building that Tarantino has created is mesmerizing, and the soundtrack is amazing. However, I wish that Tarantino would have stuck with creating a film in the style that he is so good at instead of relying on the nostalgia and glory days of film that inspired him to get into the industry in the first place. And be prepared for uncomfortable feet shots too. A LOT of uncomfortable feet shots.
Tarantino's 9th feature finds Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio), a has-been TV actor in 1969, struggling to find his place at the end of Hollywood's Golden Era. With his best friend and stunt double Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) at his side, the two attempt to re-evaluate what they want out of their lives and where their careers are headed from there. This film's multiple storylines also chronicle the story of Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie) and her arrival to Hollywood, along with her involvement with the horrific Manson family and their murders. The most interesting aspect of Tarantino's new movie is his obsession with the Golden Age of film. More than anything else, this movie is a love letter to the days of movies that inspired Tarantino to really get his start in the business. If that was the only goal in his mind, then he definitely accomplished what he was going for. The amount of nostalgia and environmental details that went into the production of this film is unbelievable but often gets in the way.
It is made very clear very early on that Tarantino just wants to pay tribute to his idols, but the sheer number of references and unresolved storylines show that he had a bit too much on his plate. This is mostly seen in the many radios throughout this film: they act as a sort of framing narrative guiding the audience through Hollywood and detailing exactly what time period they were in. While this may be a good concept for a Grand Theft Auto game, the novelty of it wore off very quickly. When I first heard about the premise of this film, I was also intrigued as to how he was planning to mix the history of Hollywood's real stars with fictional characters of his own. It is undoubtedly an interesting concept and while I believed he pulled it off to some capacity, there is too much room for ambiguity regarding why he changed history to suit his own story. Because of this, I couldn't understand what Tarantino was going for. Despite that, this film might contain the happiest and most sincere ending of any film that he's ever written.
One thing I never thought I would say about this writer/director is that a film of his would have a lack of direction, but unfortunately, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood massively suffers from this. This practically infamous filmmaker has been known for his use of various plotlines all tying together for an explosive ending, which I was definitely expecting from this story. My biggest issue throughout this movie, however, is that it really did not feel like a Tarantino film. Not because it was strictly linear and not because it relied on some degree of true events, but because there did not ever seem to be a point. Tarantino is a mastermind when it comes to writing dialogue and creating such distinct personalities and motivations for his characters, but I could not feel that at all with this story. As Dalton and Booth stumbled around Hollywood for almost three hours, their stories did not develop at all or go anywhere until the last few scenes. Only in the final confrontation could I begin to see Tarantino's violent and witty style come into play.
I think more than anything, this film is a slice-of-life piece about a pair of aging best friends in the film industry, but I do not think that story was given enough focus. The limited screentime that DiCaprio and Pitt actually shared was wasted by catching up on one another's dull lives, but the separate stories that they went about were not interesting at all. Pitt's character only seemed to be there to initiate the story of Charles Manson (Damon Herriman) and even though he might have been the most entertaining part of this movie, his character did not change at all. As for the writing surrounding DiCaprio's character, it was very hard for me to get invested in his story due to the many levels of it. Dalton was an actor playing many parts but the majority of DiCaprio's screentime was devoted to the recreations of fictional TV shows and western films that Tarantino made up. Because of this, it was difficult for me to even care about Dalton, as he spent this film's entirety as a different character. I began to care about the characters that Dalton played more than the character that DiCaprio played. More of a focus on Dalton's struggle with getting older would have provided a much more interesting narrative, but that was largely abandoned.
The greatest pieces of this movie, however, are everything that went into making it the stylized Tarantino film that audiences expect. The performances, cinematography, editing, and production design absolutely carry this film. Even though he has never been one of my favorite or most revered filmmakers, I adore the style and pure swagger that Tarantino brings to each film that he helms. Especially clear in the cinematography from Robert Richardson and the editing by Fred Raskin, this movie is a masterpiece of visual and nostalgic stimulation. The world that Tarantino builds within this film is excellent and while he may be taking too much advantage over the production design, it was absolutely gorgeous.
The best parts were definitely the performances from DiCaprio and Pitt. DiCaprio provides such an amazing portrayal of this disgruntled actor, bringing along with him such a multi-leveled and energetic presence in every scene that he is in. Pitt is phenomenal as well and I have not seen him in a more comedic role such as this one in a while. As they are both previous collaborators with Tarantino, I was wondering how well their chemistry would play out, but they are truly fantastic together. I was also expecting a much more engaging performance from Margot Robbie, but unfortunately, that's not easy to do so when your character is simply written for historical placement. Although I do believe Robbie brought such an emotional and respectable presence for the late Sharon Tate that was beautiful. Despite the lack of clear storytelling, it is obvious that there is a lot of passion involved in this film, just like many other previous Tarantino joints. He absolutely loves this era of film and to make a story surrounding those golden days provides for a playground that I am sure he had plenty of fun with.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood reveals itself as one of Tarantino's weakest and most incoherent films. The lack of impactful writing and nervous tension make this film a buddy comedy more than anything else. This change of pace in his style could have been welcome but I could not get behind the lack of conflict in this movie. Thankfully, a mediocre Tarantino film is still much better and more enjoyable than the slew of other cookie-cutter directors. There is still much to enjoy about this story and like most of his movies, I'm definitely due for a rewatch to see if my opinions change.
My Rating: ★★★½
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