Initially my thoughts on Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, Quentin Tarantino’s 9th film, were that it felt a bit disjointed and meandering: the two or three parallel plot-lines had no hope of converging at any point (or didn’t seem like the were going to). However, with a bit more time and some more thought, I have revised my initial feelings on this and come out appreciating Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood a bit more.
The style and premise doesn’t feel Tarantino-esque. Without the pop of his usual dialogue and incorporating some extended, dialogue-free, sequences you are left wondering what is going on here? Where is this going and when is it all going to kick-off or kick-in? That does happen in a big way with the tumultuous ending that had me wincing more than once and almost compacts enough violence for a whole film in to that one, brutal, visceral scene. But it is the journey of Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his stuntman-turned-best-buddy Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) that, in hindsight, gives this film its heart. I’m still not sold on the role and purpose of the Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie) plot-line in the bigger picture of the film. To me, it doesn’t seem to go anywhere or develop her character or indeed that of Jay Sebring (Emile Hirsch) or Roman Polanski (Rafał Zawierucha) in any way like the progress we see of Cliff or Rick. Margot Robbie is excellent and magnetic as Sharon but she doesn’t get anywhere near the intensity of screen time or get to develop in any discernible way like both Rick or Cliff do, which is why it feels a little bit of an aside to the rest of the proceedings. But then, I’m also brought back around to the meandering, little slice of Hollywood life that this film portrays and see it for a little snapshot of what it’s like…….
Leonardo DiCaprio is utterly superb as Rick Dalton, the over-the-hill, never-quite-made-it actor grasping onto anything that he can to keep his career going before he needs to accept reality. The scenes with him acting as an actor but then slipping back into Rick to only re-perform the role/scenes are fantastic (and these acting scenes are more akin to some of Tarantino’s previous films). Cliff, on the other hand, is calmness and coolness personified. Either he’s absolutely sure of his place and ability (not caring that he lives in a trailer and is basically an odd-job-man for Rick) or he’s just happily drifting through life with a swagger and a smile, just making it through the day, whatever it may entail.
And then there is the plethora of cameo’s that show up throughout, all of which are perfect little nuggets of performance: Bruce Dern, Timothy Olyphant, Margaret Qualley, Dakota Fanning, Luke Perry, Damian Lewis, Al Pacino, Lena Dunham, Damon Herriman, Maya Hawke, Scoot McNairy, Clifton Collins Jr., Kurt Russell, Zoë Bell aaaaaand Michael Madsen. Phew!
Cinematically, Robert Richardson, Tarantino’s long time cinematography collaborator, brings the area to life in startling colour, warmth and vivacity. With the slower pace of the story, there are some really great close up shots throughout the two and a half hour runtime to bring the best out of the top-drawer talent in this film and I found myself mesmerised at times.
So, all in all, it’s a Tarantino film but not as you would know it (until the ending). Sit back and enjoy the ride through a couple of days in Hollywood in the late 1960’s and all that this small window brings you.
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