Once...in Hollywood -- a review

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, Quentin Tarantino’s ninth (and, according to him, his second to last film) is a really groovy trip through the Hollywood of 1969. Starring Leonardo Decaprio as Rick Dalton, a fading TV star who’s desperate to keep his career going, and Brad Pitt as Cliff Booth, his friend and stuntman, whose career is also circling the drain. Rick was the star of a popular western TV show before it got cancelled, and now he’s doing guest starring parts on other TV shows--which Rick thinks is beneath him. Even meeting with a movie producer (Al Pacino), who wants him to star in Italian-made westerns, drives Rick into further despair.

Decaprio does a great job in creating this worry wart who’s constantly obsessing--as well as whining and crying--over whether he’s doing the right thing every waking moment. In sharp contrast is Pitt’s cool as a cucumber Cliff, a rough and tumble type who just lives for the moment (and who may have murdered his wife). But while Cliff may be genuinely tough--he is a professional stuntman after all--he’s still a very easy going dude, except when he gets called out to fight. The first time this happens is a hysterically funny scene that takes place on the set of The Green Hornet, where Cliff knocks an overly obnoxious Bruce Lee (Mike Moh) down a few pegs.

Did this really happen? Of course not. OUATIH is fiction, not a documentary. And the Bruce Lee scene brilliantly sets up two things: that Cliff can really handle himself in a fight, and it also tips off the viewer to expect another big change in Hollywood history further down in the story. Taking place as it does in 1969, OUATIH also deals with the Charles Manson murders. Tarantino has Manson’s ‘family’ of hippy chicks flitting throughout the movie, one of whom (well-played by Margaret Qualley) keeps flirting with Cliff. Even Manson (Damon Herriman, who also played Manson in the second season of Mindhunter) makes an appearance. And Margot Robbie brings a wonderful sweetness as Sharon Tate.

The Manson ‘family’ at first appear fleetingly, like a sudden shadow on an otherwise sunny day. But they soon take center stage during a really creepy scene where Cliff drives one of the girls back to the Manson compound, and the suspense is so powerful in this scene alone that one wonders if Tarantino was channeling Hitchcock’s Psycho. This sets us up for the climax, which is equally chilling, as well as vastly entertaining and extremely satisfying. If you’re a fan of Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds, then you know what’s coming, and you may understand why I find the ending of OUATIH so gratifying. In his own way, QT has made a ‘feel good’ movie, and that’s really cool. --SF

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