Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood Is Quentin Tarantino At His Most Nostalgic And Entertaining. It Is A Love Letter To Old Hollywood, Television, And A Los Angeles That No Longer Exists.

Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood Is Quentin Tarantino At His Most Nostalgic And Entertaining. It Is A Love Letter To Old Hollywood, Television, And A Los Angeles That No Longer Exists. It Is Also One Of His Most Fun Films To Revisit.

Last night I discussed Pulp Fiction. My favorite from the director no doubt, but second favorite of his is definitely Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood. I have always loved what Tarantino does with this movie because it feels like he is not just telling a story, he is recreating an entire era and then putting his own completely wild spin on it.

Released in 2019, the film was written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, and it takes place in Los Angeles in 1969. This is a very different kind of Tarantino movie. There is violence, there is crime, there is plenty of his trademark dialogue, but the movie is really about friendship, Hollywood, aging, and the feeling of watching one era disappear while another one takes its place.

Leonardo DiCaprio stars as Rick Dalton, a former television star who is struggling to figure out where he belongs in a changing Hollywood. Brad Pitt plays Cliff Booth, Rick’s longtime stuntman, driver, and best friend. These two are the heart of the movie, and their chemistry is fantastic. DiCaprio plays Rick as insecure, emotional, and constantly worried that his career is slipping away, while Pitt makes Cliff much more relaxed and mysterious.

Margot Robbie plays actress Sharon Tate, who lives next door to Rick and his wife in the Hollywood Hills. Robbie brings a lot of charm to the role, and Tarantino spends time showing Sharon simply enjoying her life and career. Around them are a huge collection of real Hollywood figures and fictional characters, including Al Pacino, Kurt Russell, Bruce Dern, Dakota Fanning, Mike Moh, Margaret Qualley, Timothy Olyphant, and many others.

The plot is deliberately loose compared with something like Pulp Fiction. Rick is trying to keep his career alive after years of playing the same type of television character, while Cliff is always nearby helping him get through his professional and personal problems. Meanwhile, the Manson Family is moving around Los Angeles, eventually bringing the real history of Sharon Tate into the story.

What makes the movie so interesting is that Tarantino takes real history and fictional characters and lets them exist together. You know what happened to Sharon Tate in real life, which creates an uncomfortable feeling as the movie moves toward its final act. Without spoiling the ending, Tarantino obviously has something very different planned for the history we think we know.

DiCaprio is absolutely fantastic here. Rick Dalton is a guy who desperately wants to be taken seriously but is constantly questioning himself. His breakdown while filming a television episode is hilarious, but it also tells you everything you need to know about how insecure Rick is about his career. DiCaprio manages to make him funny, pathetic, likable, and genuinely talented all at the same time.

Brad Pitt is just as good, and he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the role. Cliff is almost the opposite of Rick. He rarely seems worried about anything, and there is a mystery surrounding his past that makes you wonder exactly what this guy is capable of. Pitt has tremendous screen presence, and every scene with him feels better simply because he is in it.

The movie also works because of the friendship between Rick and Cliff. They are not exactly equals professionally, but there is a genuine bond between them. Rick depends on Cliff more than he wants to admit, while Cliff seems completely comfortable being the guy behind the scenes. Their relationship gives the movie an emotional center that could easily have been missing.

And then there is the atmosphere. Tarantino absolutely nails the look and feel of late sixties Los Angeles. The cars, music, billboards, television sets, movie theaters, restaurants, clothing, hairstyles, and Hollywood streets make the movie feel like you have been dropped directly into 1969. The soundtrack is fantastic too, with music becoming a huge part of the experience.

One of my favorite things about Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood is that it is basically a movie about movies and television. Rick is watching his career change because Hollywood is changing. The old western television stars are being replaced by something new, and Rick is terrified that he is going to be left behind. Tarantino clearly understands that feeling of nostalgia for an industry that no longer looks the way it used to.

The final act is where Tarantino finally unleashes the insanity. After spending so much time building this slow, nostalgic world, the movie suddenly becomes violent and completely ridiculous in the best possible way. It is funny, brutal, unexpected, and absolutely something only Tarantino would have come up with.

I also think the movie becomes better once you understand what Tarantino is trying to accomplish. This is not simply a movie about the Manson murders. It is Tarantino imagining an alternate version of Hollywood history where some of the people involved get a different ending. In that sense, the title Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood is perfect. It is basically a fairy tale about a time and place that Tarantino wishes he could have experienced.

For me, this is easily one of Tarantino’s best movies and definitely my second favorite behind Pulp Fiction. It is beautifully made, incredibly acted, funny, strange, violent, nostalgic, and filled with details that reward multiple viewings. DiCaprio and Pitt are fantastic together, and Tarantino creates a version of 1969 Los Angeles that feels almost like a character itself.

Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood may not be the fastest Tarantino movie, and it certainly is not structured like Pulp Fiction. But that is part of why I like it so much. It takes its time, lets you hang out with these characters, and allows the atmosphere to build before everything goes completely off the rails. It is a great film, a fantastic Hollywood time capsule, and one of Tarantino’s most entertaining movies.