By Bill Friedell
Quentin Tarantino, ever since 1992, has shocked and entertained audiences with multiple intersecting plots, non linear storytelling and a large dose of film references. But where does he fit in 2019? Tarantino explores this in his newest film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Once Upon a Time In... Hollywood follows the stories of struggling actor Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio), disgraced stuntman Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt), and rising star Sharon Tate (Marggot Robbie) as they each try to find their place in Hollywood in the late 1960s.
The acting is an undeniable positive in this film. DiCaprio gets to show a more vulnerable side as a fading star who can only get jobs as villains on T.V. shows. While he is not as despicable as Jordan Belford in The Wolf of Wall Street (Martin Scorsese, 2013) or Calvin Candie in Django Unchained (Quentin Tarantino, 2012), he isn’t particularly noble either. Dalton is shown with a stutter and is mainly interested in maintaining his career and lifestyle. It also showcases his versatility in the many T.V. shows and films he appears in throughout the film. This appears to be Tarantino gripping with his own place in Hollywood: still a known entity but due to his own idiosyncrasies and the changing prospects of new trends and tastes contradicting what he has always known. Pitt also gives an excellent performance, oozing charisma and a hint of danger. The film sings whenever Pitt and DiCaprio work off each other, showcasing one of the best movie friendships of the year. Robbie also excels, giving life to an icon taken too early. Despite not having as much dialogue as Decaprio and Pitt, she still brings a presence and exuberance that makes her real, particularly when she goes to a theatre and watches The Wrecking Crew (Phil Karlson, 1969), a movie the real Sharon Tate starred in.
The acting is an undeniable positive in this film. DiCaprio gets to show a more vulnerable side as a fading star who can only get jobs as villains on T.V. shows. While he is not as despicable as Jordan Belford in The Wolf of Wall Street (Martin Scorsese, 2013) or Calvin Candie in Django Unchained (Quentin Tarantino, 2012), he isn’t particularly noble either. Dalton is shown with a stutter and is mainly interested in maintaining his career and lifestyle. It also showcases his versatility in the many T.V. shows and films he appears in throughout the film. This appears to be Tarantino gripping with his own place in Hollywood: still a known entity but due to his own idiosyncrasies and the changing prospects of new trends and tastes contradicting what he has always known. Pitt also gives an excellent performance, oozing charisma and a hint of danger. The film sings whenever Pitt and DiCaprio work off each other, showcasing one of the best movie friendships of the year. Robbie also excels, giving life to an icon taken too early. Despite not having as much dialogue as Decaprio and Pitt, she still brings a presence and exuberance that makes her real, particularly when she goes to a theatre and watches The Wrecking Crew (Phil Karlson, 1969), a movie the real Sharon Tate starred in.
 Inglorious Basterds runs at 2 hours 30 minutes |  Django Unchained runs at 2 hours 45 minutes. |  Hateful Eight runs at 3 Hours 7 minutes |  Once Upon a Time in... Hollywood runs at 2 Hours 40 minutes. |
Tarantino’s films tend to run longer than most films do, (Once Upon a Time in... Hollywood running at 2 hours 40 minutes) which allows for the director to let the movie breathe and inhabit the spaces the characters do. He lets us sit in the passenger seat as we see characters drive from point a to point b while era appropriate rock music like Bring a Little Lovin' by Los Bravos plays on the radio. We see Cliff prepare his dog food in all its intricacies and this lets us truly live in his camper filled to the brim with details. This approach especially pays off as Cliff finds his way to an abandoned western town set filled with members of the infamous Manson Family. The prolonged time spent building the tension pays dividends as he masterfully escalates the stakes with each exchange between Cliff and the Manson Family.
This breathing room creates a very different atmosphere than Tarantino’s other films, creating a more intimate, low stakes film. It’s not an epic like Django Unchained or as claustrophobic as The Hateful 8 (2015). This provides a more contemplative and introspective atmosphere. It’s also Tarantino’s most metacinematic film since Inglourious Basterds (2009), incorporating film within film and T.V. within a film, showcasing movies and T.V. shows from the period both fictional and real. This allows for Tarantino to lovingly recreate the aesthetics of old Hollywood production in a sendup to late 60s Hollywood, like something larger than life when the streets of Hollywood turn on at night. He also doesn’t partake in non linear storytelling, taking a more conventional linear approach, jumping between Cliff, Rick, and Sharon’s stories as they concurrently happen.
This breathing room creates a very different atmosphere than Tarantino’s other films, creating a more intimate, low stakes film. It’s not an epic like Django Unchained or as claustrophobic as The Hateful 8 (2015). This provides a more contemplative and introspective atmosphere. It’s also Tarantino’s most metacinematic film since Inglourious Basterds (2009), incorporating film within film and T.V. within a film, showcasing movies and T.V. shows from the period both fictional and real. This allows for Tarantino to lovingly recreate the aesthetics of old Hollywood production in a sendup to late 60s Hollywood, like something larger than life when the streets of Hollywood turn on at night. He also doesn’t partake in non linear storytelling, taking a more conventional linear approach, jumping between Cliff, Rick, and Sharon’s stories as they concurrently happen.
 Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) stars in the fictional western T.V. show Bounty Law |  Tarantino utilizes metacinema by putting Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) into various films and T.V. shows. Many of these films and shows are not real shows, but are made in such a way that they blend in perfectly with the era. |
One area where the film struggled was the caracturized portrayal of Bruce Lee (Mike Moh). While he is a small role in the film, he is the centerpiece of a scene where Cliff meets him during a stunt job, resulting in a three round fight. Lee easily wins the first round, but Cliff surprises Lee with a quick takedown of his own. At the third round, both men seem evenly matched, but the fight is broken up. Some have criticized this scene for making Bruce Lee into a joke as well as a means to prop up Cliff’s character by winning a round on him and seemingly stalemating before the fight is broken up. It seems weird that Bruce Lee isn’t given the same reverence Sharon Tate gets (they both died tragically and young). It seems that Tarantino is aware of this as he shows Bruce Lee training Sharon Tate for a fight scene for The Wrecking Crew. The fact that the fight was left unresolved allowed me to accept this storytelling choice, but I felt as if the cockiness of Tarantino’s Bruce Lee seemed to make him more like a cartoon version of Bruce Lee, rather than an actual human being.
C.iff Booth (Brad Pitt) and Bruce Lee (Mike Moh) fight each other
Potential Spoilers about the ending. skip to the next paragraph if you haven’t seen the movie.
The ending of the film is the biggest hurdle Tarantino must overcome. Much like Inglourious Basterds, it involves alternate history. While most of the story has been an intertwining mix of real Hollywood history and fictional characters (Rick and Cliff), use of voiceover from Kurt Russell later contrasted by Tarantino’s more stylized elements (particularly when it comes to shooting violence) creates a context for the ending that cements it as fiction. What happened in the movie may not be what happened in real life, but in film, that need not be the case.
Once Upon a Time in... Hollywood is a loving send up to film that was during a time of major industrial change in Hollywood. The performances are masterful and Tarantino’s direction and script remain compelling, despite being more laid back. It’s unlike the rest of Tarantino’s impressive filmography while still being a Tarantino film. While it may be an investment with its length, it creates a breathable experience that puts you in a time and place, letting you breathe in the time period of late 1960s Hollywood. Despite making films atypical to the zeitgeist, Tarantino delivers a movie unlike any he’s made before while remaining his own unique voice in films.
The ending of the film is the biggest hurdle Tarantino must overcome. Much like Inglourious Basterds, it involves alternate history. While most of the story has been an intertwining mix of real Hollywood history and fictional characters (Rick and Cliff), use of voiceover from Kurt Russell later contrasted by Tarantino’s more stylized elements (particularly when it comes to shooting violence) creates a context for the ending that cements it as fiction. What happened in the movie may not be what happened in real life, but in film, that need not be the case.
Once Upon a Time in... Hollywood is a loving send up to film that was during a time of major industrial change in Hollywood. The performances are masterful and Tarantino’s direction and script remain compelling, despite being more laid back. It’s unlike the rest of Tarantino’s impressive filmography while still being a Tarantino film. While it may be an investment with its length, it creates a breathable experience that puts you in a time and place, letting you breathe in the time period of late 1960s Hollywood. Despite making films atypical to the zeitgeist, Tarantino delivers a movie unlike any he’s made before while remaining his own unique voice in films.
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