ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD by Urizen

   So….Tarantino’s foot thing is still going on, and is in full effect in this movie! I really debated writing up anything on Once Upon A Time in Hollywood. I ended up sleeping on it after seeing the movie before ultimately deciding to at least do something. Even still, it is one of those cases where you know that you won’t be writing much. That’s not to say that I didn’t enjoy the movie; in fact I had a pretty great time. I just don’t quite know how to talk about it. To say the least, it will be interesting, but let’s see how this goes.

   Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is Quentin Tarantino’s ninth film. It stars Leonardo DiCaprio as television star Rick Dalton and Brad Pitt as his stunt double, gopher, and friend Cliff Booth. The story deals with the two of them trying to gain the fame they once had in 1969 Hollywood. In addition to that we have Margot Robbie as Sharon Tate, along with a slew of other actors including Luke Wilson, Al Pacino, Timothy Olyphant, Dakota Fanning, Margaret Qualley, and many more.

   As far as plot goes, there isn’t much to talk about. You have Rick Dalton as he is realizing he is becoming a has been in Hollywood. His agent, played by Pacino, after making him realize this, recommends he do Italian pictures. Rick is determined though to get back into the mainstream again, and Cliff, despite getting less and less work as his stuntman, stands by his side and does his best to help his friend out. Meanwhile Sharon is living next door with Roman Polanski and is sort of a side character that you see go to her own movie showing, and do random daily things to remind us she is part of this. In actuality she plays a major part in the story to an extent, but because of Tarantino’s storytelling, it feels as if you are watching 3 different movies that eventually accumulate into one by the end.

   Now I realize that I am kind of speaking in a bit of a negative way about this movie, but as I said, I really enjoyed myself. Minus some obvious tropes, such as the feet and parallel storytelling, it almost didn’t even feel like a Tarantino movie for a good chunk of it. It was a bit nice to see something different from him. I found myself laughing a lot and enjoying myself quite a bit.

   With such a great cast, it goes without saying that the acting is excellent and everyone seems to be having a great time. I’m also all for anytime an actor has to play an actor that is having problems acting. It is a fun thing to see. Leonardo DiCaprio does an excellent job as Rick Dalton. Some of my favorite moments though came from Pitt’s Cliff Booth. He was a lot of fun as the stuntman and really stood out to me. I wish there was a bit more of him honestly. One weak link was Margot Robbie's Sharon Tate, and it really isn’t any fault of her own. Hone, Robbie does a great job with what she is given, but every time it switched over to her character’s story, it just felt unnecessary.

  The characters also don’t get terribly much in the way of development. It isn’t like anyone has any lessons they learn or any major revelations that shape their characters or change something with them, for the most part things stay pretty consistent. It isn't necessarily a bad thing, because it works in this movie. You sort of expect this stuff to happen, then when it doesn't, it is almost a pleasant surprise.

   While the movie is a lot of fun, I can't help but wonder if something happened towards the end of filming or planning for this movie. For the most part,  things move at a pretty slow pace throughout the movie. We see more drawn out scenes of filming happening, we have these long shots, extended driving sequences that make me question if it was safe for anyone in that time to be on the road, long shots of the signs and cities, yet that all changes near the end. Suddenly things go a bit further ahead and we are given narration about things that have occurred in that time skip along with some quick clips. From there things just seem rushed and while it has some of the best parts of the movie towards the end, the ending itself really was a tad disappointing and left me unsatisfied. I had questions I wanted answered, I still had no idea what was going to happen next in the story and would never know.

   While avoiding going too deep into the plot to avoid spoilers, the movie has also had its fair share of controversy recently, which after watching it, I can see why. Families and friends of both Sharon Tate and Bruce Lee (played by Mike Moh), have spoken out against the portrayal of these people in the movie. While I’m sure Tarantino didn’t mean any harm, it is important to at least keep the core of who these people are still there. Portraying Bruce Lee as an arrogant jerk to make Brad Pitt’s character look even better was not the best choice. Then having the inclusion of Tate at all, and having her apparently not be as she really was in person, the whole thing was bound to bring some controversy. Maybe I am wrong, and maybe Tarantino wanted to get some controversy happening. It wouldn’t surprise me. No matter though, it probably should have all been handled a little better.

   On the subject of Tarantino, I have seen so many people saying this movie is either a love story to the 60s, or a love story to the golden age of Hollywood, and some saying that it is a piece about violence in media. I wish I knew. It is really hard to tell what Tarantino is doing here. Maybe he is just trying to show off how much he loves and knows about classic cinema. Maybe he is trying to just say he really hates hippies. It is a mystery to me. Maybe that’s my own fault though.

   I went into this movie and shut my brain off a bit. Sometimes you just need to do that. Sometimes you just need to enjoy a movie and not look into this whole idea of what is he trying to tell us with this scene. It is like when you look for symbolism in every line of an author’s work. Eventually you will hate it if you pick everything apart too much and analyze it. That might be why so many people, including me, enjoyed this film. While the ending left me a bit unsatisfied, it was still a fun time from beginning to end. With wonderful performances from everyone and good writing, it leads to a movie that, while I wouldn’t go back it to over and over, I thoroughly enjoyed watching and wouldn’t turn down the chance to see again if it was presented to me. I highly recommend going and giving it a shot. You won't be disappointed.