Once Upon a Time...In Hollywood (2019)
Released July 26, 2019
Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood visits 1969 Los Angeles, where everything is changing, as TV star Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his longtime stunt double Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) make their way around an industry they hardly recognize anymore. The ninth film from the writer-director features a large ensemble cast and multiple story lines in a tribute to the final moments of Hollywood’s golden age.
CREDITS
Directed: Quentin Tarantino
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie and more.
Rated: R
Runtime: 161 min
SPOILERS BELOW
So, I'm going to make a couple assumptions about you with this piece. The first being that you are also fans of Tarantino's works and the second being that you also know your history. In case these things are not true about you, I will do my best to pick up that slack, but by no means am I a film or history professor at [INSERT PROUD UNIVERSITY NAME HERE].
This is the ninth movie that Tarantino has directed and we've gotten used to a certain style that he brings to the theater. While a lot of those aspects remain, this movie does feel like a bit of a departure. The over the top action sequences and the level of gore that would shock a coroner, those things are a bit out the window in this one. They are replaced, however, with a pretty delightful comedic flow that in no way overpowers the dramatic performances of the actors or pulls you out of the movie, but it does help keep things a bit light.
The plot of this movie is pretty easy to break down into a paragraph, it'll leave you wondering how it is almost a three hour long film, but I'll do my best here. Rick Dalton (DiCaprio) is a television actor in the 1960s, a slowly fading television actor at that. He begins to feel his career slip out of his grasp and obviously, he isn't a fan. His best friend, and stunt double, Cliff Booth (Pitt) work together to try to hem out the details to get their meal ticket back on top of Hollywood. While all of that is playing out you learn a bit here and there about Rick's neighbors, Roman Polanski and Sharon Tate. For those out there who are not too keen on their history, these were the victims of Charles Manson and his "Family". Sharon Tate was murdered while pregnant along with some house guests. While the Manson Family is a key plot point of the movie, I'm going to leave this be a bit because the greatest part of this movie is what happens in the end. I swear here and now that I will not be giving that away, I enjoyed it way too much to just ruin it for the next person.
Once Upon a Time (as it will be referred to here on out) was filled with a star-studded cast. From Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie to Timothy Olyphant, Kurt Russel, Damian Lewis, Al Pacino and the late Luke Perry (his last role actually). Not only were there too many names to fit on a movie poster, they all put on fantastic performances. Brad Pitt especially, I love the roles that he plays in Tarantino movies. They all have the same sort of feel to them and it's just so obviously that the working relationship between actor and director just blends flawlessly. Brad Pitt was incredible in it. This brings me to Leo, Leonardo DiCaprio is likely the best actor of his generation. He is this generation's Al Pacino or Robert De Niro and I do not care if I receive backlash on that. It is one hundred and ten percent the God's honest truth. The man puts in one hell of a performance once again. While this is not a role that's going to bring an Academy Award, it's obvious that he is just one of the best of all time.
For those reasons and some that I just will not spoil I'm giving Once Upon a Time a 9 out of 10. It was an incredible movie. I went in with very high expectations and I wasn't even remotely let down.
Final Rating: 9/10
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