Once Upon A Time In Hollywood Movie Review

“Anybody accidentally kills anybody in a fight, they go to jail.  It’s called manslaughter.” - Cliff Booth

    Once Upon A Time In Hollywood is the ninth film by the great Quentin Tarantino, and one of this year’s best.  It stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Al Pacino, Bruce Dern, Kurt Russell, Emile Hirsch, Luke Perry, and Timothy Olyphant, among many, many others.  Set in 1969, the story follows Rick Dalton (DiCaprio) and his stunt double Cliff Booth, (Pitt) as they navigate a Hollywood that has no use for them anymore.  Meanwhile, real life actress Sharon Tate (Robbie) makes her own way around Hollywood, while Charles Manson’s cult is never far behind.

    This was a film that I had been greatly anticipating since the time it was announced.  Needless to say, I walked out of this film feeling incredibly satisfied.  It reminded me why I love the work of Quentin Tarantino so much, and left me wanting to see it again immediately.  I ended up seeing this film a total of three times before it left my local theater, and not only did it get better with each viewing, but each time, I discovered something new that I had not noticed the time before.

    There are so many little easter eggs in this film that are incredibly fun to discover (some of my favorites being the restaurant Casa Vega, which is a reference to the two Vega brothers Vic a.k.a. Mr. Blonde from Reservoir Dogs, and Vincent from Pulp Fiction, the numerous nods and shoutouts to Death Proof, and the amazing Red Apple Cigarettes advertisement starring Rick Dalton at the end of the film.)  I also loved the Inglourious Basterds nod that saw Antonio Margheriti himself directing an Italian Rick Dalton film entitled Operazione Dyn-o-mite.  

The music is amazing, which is no surprise.  It is, after all, a Tarantino film.  The cinematography is excellent, especially during any scenes taking place in cars.  The visual style is just as beautiful as all of Quentin’s other movies, and had me absolutely transfixed for the film’s entire two hour and forty-one minute runtime. 

The script is incredible, and proves yet again that Tarantino is not only a master storyteller, but also a master of dialogue.  The dialogue in this film is snappy, sharp, and very witty, even when the topic of conversation isn’t particularly relevant or important.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Tarantino can make even the most mundane subject matter interesting as hell.  Everybody always remembers the “royale with cheese” scene from Pulp Fiction, or the opening scene from Inglourious Basterds, which includes a conversation about milk.  That’s because Tarantino presents these everyday subjects in a very unconventional fashion, which makes them almost as interesting as his terrific action scenes.  

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood is a film that really takes its time to build both a rich and interesting world, and complex, layered characters.  It really meanders a lot, with not much happening until the last twenty minutes.  Some people may be bored by this, but I thought it was incredibly effective.  The pacing reminded me of one of Tarantino’s earlier films, entitled Jackie Brown.  

The acting in this film is magnificent, with DiCaprio and Pitt giving arguably the best performances of their careers.  Their chemistry here is amazing, and gave off a vibe that reminded me of some other great duos in Tarantino films such as Jules Winnfield and Vincent Vega, or Dr. King Schultz and Django Freeman.

In terms of flaws, the only thing that I found that might be considered a drawback to the film was its slow pacing.  I didn’t really mind this at all, but for some, the pacing might be a tad bit too slow for their liking, and that’s okay.  After all, there are different types of films for different types of people, and for some people, this film might not be for them.  But if you love Tarantino films, definitely be sure to watch this movie as soon as you can.

Rating: R

Grade: A