Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood

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It's been a while since I've talked about Tarantino, so allow me to fill people in on my humble opinion of the guy, which is somewhat updated - Tarantino is a great director. Like with many, 'Pulp Fiction' is still one of my big faves. It's a great flick to throw on for when you want a little bit of everything.

Since then, however, my interest in Tarantino started to go downhill. But here's the thing - even his worst film ('Deathproof' in my opinion) is decent. It's a lot of "blah blah blah" leading to nothing,  but that car chase at the end is just about worth the wait. Tarantino, like any other director, has his hits and misses with me; "misses" meaning "eh, that was dumb, but still fun", and "hits" being what I'd call my Top 5 of his 9.

For me, top to bottom, that list would probably read something like 'Pulp Fiction', 'Jackie Brown', 'Reservoir Dogs', 'Hateful Eight' and... well, this. Yeah, it made it. And for the love of God, fanbase, do bear in mind that I've never fully hated any of his films - just a strong dislike for the first long while of 'Deathproof' (if you tell me that I just didn't get it, you'd be absolutely right!)

The film follows two guys in the acting business in 1969. Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio - great to have you back!) is a well-known star of westerns, and Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) is his stuntman. Westerns, however, are dying out, and Dalton finds himself hanging on by a thread. Though Dalton's still able to find a bit of work, his superstar status has depleted. His new neighbours, however, are Roman Polanski (Rafal Zawierucha) and Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie), whom he hopes to soon rub elbows with in order to restore his status.

Meanwhile, Booth gets by on what little he has, seemingly without much of a problem with it. He stays in his trailer with his pitbull, and is happy to be Dalton's go-to guy, as they're also best friends. However, Booth also has a criminal record in his background, being accused of killing his wife. This, along with a fight involving Bruce Lee, pretty well led to his career's downfall, but Dalton still wants to keep him around.

This is essentially a film about these two guys, and their careers reaching their end. For me, it's somewhat reminiscent of 'The Artist' in that way - but obviously completely different in execution. But the real question on a lot of peoples' minds has been "What about Sharon Tate?" to which I simply reply "Watch the trailer again". She's in it, but these two dudes are very clearly who the story is about. The Tate situation with Manson is what's happening in the background. I will simply add that it call comes together in the end, and things are reminiscent of 'Inglorious Basterds' with its execution. Those who have seen it, hopefully get what I mean by that.

The ending will inevitably be what makes or breaks this movie for people, and it's totally understandable. For me though, it made it, and a lot of it has to do with the title of the movie itself. However, I won't say why, and kinda hope I haven't given too much away already. For me, this is probably my #4 or #5 of his, and that's an extremely relative list. 'Pulp Fiction' will almost always be #1 for people, but from there, it's a completely scrambled matter of opinion. And that, to me, is what really makes Tarantino a great director - he offers variety, while maintaining his own style that we're familiar with - comedic violence and swearing and feet, oh my!

5/5

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