Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (2019)
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Writer: Quentin Tarantino
Actors: Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Margaret Qualley, Dakota Fanning, Bruce Dern, Al Pacino
Regardless of what you think of Quentin Tarantino, one cannot deny his consistency. With this being his 9th film (both Kill Bill’s counting as one), you can’t help but appreciate the diversity he put out in terms of genres, along with storytelling. Although all of his films have that Tarantino flair, they still feel distinctly unique. He was also one of the first auteurs I enjoyed. When I first starting getting into film, I still did not understand what made “the best movies of all time” different from any other film that was showing in the cinema at any given time. It took me time to realize the distinction of what makes a film “good”. However, one of the leading factors of this change in my mentality was definitely Tarantino. I distinctly remember watching Pulp Fiction and being so engrossed in that world. At the time, I could not understand what made that film so special. I had to watch it around 3 times until it finally hit me. The storytelling, the way the characters interacted, the editing, and many more aspects all fit together to make that great film. It opened my eyes, and made me realize that there were people who actually put effort into film (as silly as that may sound now). That incident was one of the key milestones in my journey with film, and I have followed Tarantino’s career since then. I have watched each film of his a minimum of three times, which I rarely do with many directors, but the way he constructs dialogue just prompts multiple viewings. So obviously when I heard Once Upon A Time finally came out, I was excited to watch it. I ended up seeing it a week late due to work, so all of the hype had already died down. With an open mind, I watched the film. After three hours, I left the theater feeling torn. Which was strange. I never exited a Quentin film in such a way. I talked with some friends online about the film, seeing everyone raving about it made my dilemma even worse. Was there something I was missing? Did I gloss over key aspects? The more I think about these questions, the more confused I get.
I don’t think this is a bad film. On the contrary, I see it as a love letter to all movie fans in the world. How less than 30 minutes into the film we got to hear the Wilhelm Scream, or how we got to see a sneak peak of what its like behind the scenes of a film are just some of the details that is specifically catered towards movie fanatics. All of these aspects and more are coming from a man who you know loves films just as much as you do. It shows how he wanted to bring together everything he loves about movies and put it all in one picture. All of that was great, however, I still have some gripes with this film unfortunately. As I said in the intro, I was really torn about this feeling that I had after leaving the theater. Although there are parts that I absolutely adored, there were still some aspects that I could not forget. This is especially true with the first half of the film. What I loved about Quentin’s movies in the past was the way he writes dialogue, especially the seemingly pointless conversations that don’t have anything to do with the plot. Its conversations like the tipping discussion in Reservoir Dogs, the royal with cheese bit in Pulp Fiction, or the bar game in Inglorious Bastards that made me fall in love with his films. With Once Upon A Time in Hollywood, I honestly felt like Quentin’s writing in that aspect was one of the weakest in his filmography. Now granted, this issue may have risen from the fact that I went into the film with that expectation in mind. Which is obviously unfair because Tarantino has no obligation to put in interesting dialogue similar to his other films. However, that is how I felt regardless of what may seem fair. If this film was done by any other director I probably would view it in more of a favorable light. But as of now, I honestly did not enjoy the writing as much as I did his other films. Again, this is not me saying its bad, its just that when I compare it to his other works, this is in the lower tiers for me personally. So that was one aspect that I did not enjoy, and another is that I felt like there were many scenes/bits that served absolutely no purpose other than to fluff out the run time. A scene that comes to mind was when Brad Pitt’s character was fixing the dish on the roof of Leo’s house. It felt like it dragged on but not in a good way. There are other scenes but to me this scene was the most egregious.
I know I have spent the entirety of this review talking about aspects of this film that I did not enjoy. However, this criticism comes from a place of love, not malice. I am usually overly critical when it comes to films I know are made with intense care and passion. Regardless of everything I said, I still enjoyed this movie. Mainly due to the second half of the film, along with the ending which I will talk about in detail later. A key contributor of my enjoyment of this film was Brad Pitt’s character. That whole sequence of him going to the Manson Farm was genius and to me was more fulfilling as a scene than the ending weirdly enough. The whole thing kept me at the edge of my seat and it was all written so well. Furthermore I enjoyed the tiny meta details of how we were watching a film about making films. Like the Bruce Lee scene, or when we are seeing Rick act out this long scene and are suddenly thrust back into reality when he forgets his lines. Its those tiny details that make me realize how great movies are, and Tarantino showcased that perfectly. Finally, I feel like one of the greatest choices Quentin made was giving Sharon Tate the justice she deserved with how her character was handled. Tarantino decided to focus on her just living her life, just like anyone else. He did not put weight or emphasis on any of the actions she took, he just showed her off as she should be, a normal person having a good time. This also plays into how he decided to showcase Manson, or I guess I could say lack of showcasing him. Which was also a wonderful choice. He did not give those horrible people the publicity they crave. For that, I salute you Tarantino.
Now we need to talk about that climax. Because my god was it something special. So a little bit of backstory. I went into this film, not knowing anything about it. Contrary to many other people, I try to avoid most media surrounding films I am excited for. So I had no idea Once Upon A Time was a Manson film. I remember when we were first introduced to Polanski and Sharon, I leaned over to my wife and told her “oh these guys were murdered by the Manson family”. So as the film kept going on, I knew the film would end in the Manson murders and that sort of disappointed me. I usually have this notion that if a film is based on a true event and you know what that event is, you sort of ruined the film for yourself. So for example, if I’m watching The Theory of Everything, I know what will happen. So all of the suspense that the film is trying to build up is basically gone. So in this example knowing about the actual event is a detriment to your enjoyment of the film. However, with Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, you knowing about the actual event is a benefit. For the entire second half of this film I was just waiting for it to happen, I knew it was coming and it was merely a matter of when. Well Quentin managed to subvert my expectations like never before. I have never had this feeling before but I was fully surprised at how wrong I was with my expectations. As the Manson family came up, I kept saying to myself “yup its going to happen, buckle up”. Well I did not buckle tight enough because the next 10 minutes were honestly one of the funniest things I have seen in a long while. The whole scene was insane, and I loved every minute of it. Quentin basically made the Manson Family into a laughing stock in front of the whole world, he reduced them to nothing, as they deserved. It was just a joy to watch, and I can’t say that about many directors. Who else can make brutally murdering three people so funny other than Tarantino?
Once Upon A Time In Hollywood is a true love letter to film fans around the world. As I was watching the film, I felt like a kid in a candy store every time I would notice a reference. It made me happy to see the passion put into it and I knew that this was a film Quentin had to make before his inevitable final film. But again, I still could not get into some of the aspects I mentioned above. However, I never found myself bored during the 2 hour and 41 minute run time, which in itself is a great feat. I guess my expectations going into this film may have hindered my full enjoyment of it. So my opinions may change with a second viewing. As of now, this is how I feel after one viewing.
