Review: Once Upon a Time In Hollywood

Once Upon a Time In Hollywood, directed by Quentin Tarantino, tells the tale of Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio), a once famous actor living in an ever-changing Hollywood in 1969. Seeing his stardom starting to fade, Dalton alongside his best friend/stunt double Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) attempt to keep alive the golden age of Hollywood as the industry is in constant need of new blood.

This is the 9th film from writer-director Quentin Tarantino, and evidently it’s also his final film depending on who you ask. Being a fan of Tarantino’s films I had this film on my radar for quite some time now. Critics adored this film when it premiered at Cannes and there’s a lot of Oscar buzz surrounding the film. From the looks of it everyone seems to really enjoy this film, calling it one of the best of this year…So why can’t I love it as much as everyone else?

Now don’t get me wrong; Once Upon a Time In Hollywood was a very entertaining movie filled with great performances, great filmmaking, and the same kind of wittiness in the writing I came to expect from Tarantino. It’s a good movie, but not a great one. This is far from Tarantino’s best film, and the end result left a lot to be desired from me.

The film’s biggest problem for me was its length and pacing. Clocking in at two hours and forty minutes, the film doesn’t make the most of its time. The film spends a good amount of time on Sharon Tate, played here by Margot Robbie, and while Robbie herself gives a pretty good performance overall, most of her scenes feel relatively pointless. She doesn’t interact with either Pitt or DiCaprio for the entire movie; it’s as if she was included in the film for the sole purpose of incorporating the Manson cult in the story for Tarantino to explore/satirize.

The last third of the film was also kinda rough. The film tends to over explain a lot of elements that should be made obvious through the characters’ actions, and the sudden narration in the third act is really distracting. The build up to the climax was unnecessarily long and the climax itself was…polarizing to say the least. Now I won’t go into detail on what happens in the end but keep in mind this is Tarantino’s take on the Manson murders in 1969. This is the same guy who made Inglorious Basterds, so take that as you will.

Now despite all this, I still recommend this film. The biggest draw for me was easily the performances. Leonardo DiCaprio honestly gives a career best performance here as he was absolutely phenomenal in every scene he was in. Brad Pitt was also incredibly entertaining to watch in this film, and his chemistry with DiCaprio was absolute gold. The rest of the ensemble cast does a great job as well; even Margot Robbie, despite most of her scenes being pretty pointless, manages to stand out.

The writing from Tarantino is sharp and comical, just as I expected from his screenplays. Tarantino also once again demonstrates his ability to generate unnerving tension just through dialogue alone in some scenes. The cinematography’s great, the soundtrack’s great, the editing’s great, and as a director Tarantino was solid.

Overall I would recommend this film for what it is. It’s a fun, well-made Tarantino flick that shows his love for Hollywood in the 60’s. If you’re not a fan of Tarantino films then this is not going to change your mind about him anytime soon. If you do enjoy Tarantino films then this might be an interesting watch for you as this is his least violent film so far, but it’s still classic Tarantino. This is not the best film of the year, but hey depending on how the rest of the year turns out maybe this might make a spot in my Top 10 list for 2019. Check this film out and see for yourself.

Final Verdict: 7/10