Rating: R
Runtime: 2 hours, 41 minutes
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Quick Impressions:
I’ve been dying to see Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. It’s the film I’ve been most excited about all summer. (Well I mean, after I saw Detective Pikachu.) So of course, it came out the week I was away on a family trip to Disney World. (So did The Farewell, that Awkwafina movie I’m also dying to see. I now have some serious catching up to do. Not that I’m complaining. The week in Disney World was great. I highly recommend watching the Magic Kingdom fireworks from the pool at the Polynesian. Unless you have your own private pool in the center of Main Street, it is hands down the best, most comfortable way to see them.)
We bought our tickets to Once Upon a Time in Hollywood as soon as we got home. I’ve been brimming over with excitement. Then the afternoon before our evening showtime, my sister texted me to let me know the movie was one to miss. It was long and slow with no plot. She kept waiting in vain for something to happen. She wanted three hours of her life back.
I appreciated the warning, but when I saw the movie, I had a completely different experience. (This was not a complete shock since my sister and I often have wildly different taste in movies, though we do agree on some.) Not only is this easily the best film I’ve seen this summer, but it’s also the best film I’ve seen all year and probably my new favorite Tarantino movie. Now, admittedly, it is not unlike me to overpraise movies because I’m usually swept away in rapt enthusiasm by life in general. So keep that in mind when I call the film a near masterpiece and adjust your expectations accordingly. (I’m sensible enough to give you the warning, but I don’t have the self control to keep from gushing that the film’s a masterpiece. I really loved it.)
Long ago in the ancient past, I used to teach college rhetoric and literature classes. And I consider the greatest mistake I made as an instructor the decision to give students an essay prompt option that involved researching the murder of Sharon Tate. This was a horrific blunder on my part because I did not consider that I would then have to read those essays while I was heavily pregnant.
Dear God.
If you are considering watching Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, then I think it’s essential that you know in real life Sharon Tate died with her hands over her belly, begging, “Please, don’t kill me. I just want to have my baby,” while members of Charles Manson’s Family brutally and repeatedly stabbed her to death. She was nearly nine months pregnant and continued to plead for the life of her child. They stabbed her sixteen times.
To appreciate this movie fully, keep that image in your mind. It haunted me throughout the film and kept me thoroughly engaged. To me, that is the real story. Obviously the events of the night in question are what we’re all waiting to see as we watch Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. That makes it an eerily suspenseful film, although from a certain point of view, it’s true what my sister said, that nothing is happening. Nothing is happening yet.
The Good:
The film does build slowly, and its narrative style is non-traditional, but honestly Tarantino does such an amazing job of recreating 1969 Hollywood that I’d gladly sit for hours just soaking up the atmosphere. (Now, granted, I did not live in Hollywood (or anywhere else) in 1969, so I’m not in a position to authenticate said atmosphere, but just soaking it in was wonderful. The lights, the clothes, the cars, the cigarettes, the music! Watching this movie is a lot like taking a trip to Disney World. It’s just as thoroughly themed.)
I also loved the juxtaposition of “real life” (Hollywood life) and the TV Western. The components of this movie play off one another in fascinating ways. And what dynamic, delightful surprises we get as we slowly unpack the relationship between the two leads, played by Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt. As my husband observed, one plays the role in real life that the other plays in the movies. (There’s a meta quality to this, too. At one point DiCaprio’s character mentions the possibility of going home to Missouri where Pitt is actually from.) I also think it’s worth exploring which character is propping up the other. What tantalizing entanglement on all levels!
Both DiCaprio as past-his-prime actor Rick Dalton and Pitt as pariah stuntman Cliff Booth make engaging, highly watchable leads. As always, DiCaprio gives a nuanced, complex, powerful performance, and Brad Pitt is Brad Pitt. (I mean that as a compliment. Pitt has such charisma. He doesn’t really have to say or do anything out of the ordinary, and you just watch him indefinitely.)
Margot Robbie probably gives my favorite performance of the film. I had heard she had a small part, but I found her impact on the movie tremendous. What she actually has is a part with few lines of significant dialogue. But she has plenty of insignificant dialogue, and her words and actions help to give the audience a strong, clear sense of Sharon Tate. I was honestly impressed with how clearly she conveys the character and how strongly she wins our sympathies, mostly through nonverbal acting. We always see Tate as if we are watching her from a distance, yet somehow we feel we know her intimately. She gradually comes across as the warmest, most real character in the story.
I would honestly enjoy analyzing this movie in greater depth than I can do in a spoiler free review. I’ve wanted to do that several times recently, so perhaps I’ll start a second blog featuring more in depth analysis of films.
My sister’s criticism that the movie is slow is true, but I considered that suspenseful. I mean, when you see in the trailer that DiCaprio’s character lives next door to Sharon Tate, then you get a flash of Charles Manson, you think, “Uh oh!” I don’t know if you’ve ever noticed this, but Tarantino movies tend to showcase tons of graphic violence. And, of course, his recent films Inglorious Basterds and Django Unchained have been revenge fantasies that altered history, so going in, we have no idea what to expect. Anything could happen. It’s unnerving. And the longer you get to know Sharon Tate, the more you think, “What a nice, sweet person! She does not deserve a horrible death.” But the movie makes sure to keep reminding you of the date just in case you forget that an awful historical event is coming up just around the corner.
As Taratino movies go, this one has shockingly little violence for a nerve-rackingly long time. So the suspense builds until you’re sitting there in an absolute frenzy, sick to your stomach about what in the world will happen once this incredibly slow fuse finally reaches the powder keg.
My sister (who is dismayed by my reaction to the movie and just joked, “I’m not sure we can be sisters anymore”) said that she found the movie lacking in plot, in narrative. I know what she means. I think the story is advanced in really non-traditional ways. As the film progresses, we gradually learn more and more about the three central characters, DiCaprio’s Rick Dalton, Pitt’s Cliff Booth, and Robbie’s Sharon Tate. Of course, Tate is a real person, and Rick and Cliff are fictional characters. (I say, “of course,” and I went into the movie assuming Rick and Cliff were fictional, but as the movie went on, and more and more actors showed up playing real people, I started to worry that maybe I was wrong. I checked, though, so I can confirm Rick Dalton and Cliff Booth are fictional characters.) Fiction and reality work together to reveal these characters to us. It could only happen in Hollywood.
The film is absolutely overstuffed with well known actors in supporting roles, too. (And this may be my imagination, but often these characters are given material that becomes funny when you consider the identity of the actor playing the role.) (It’s not my imagination.) Keep an eye out for Kurt Russell, Bruce Dern, Dakota Fanning, Timothy Olyphant, Luke Perry, Damian Lewis, Lena Dunham, and Al Pacino. (And many more! I feel ridiculous writing out a long list of names! Tons of people are in this movie. Emile Hirsch, Rumer Willis, Scoot McNairy, Michael Madsen…) I was delighted to recognize Zoë Bell (from Death Proof), Kate Berlant (from Sorry to Bother You), and Maya Hawke (from Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke). (I had been keeping an eye out for Hawke ever since I read her filmography during Stranger Things and discovered she was in the movie).
Best Scene, Leonardo DiCaprio:
Calling out a single “Best Scene” in this film is difficult for me because I think immediately of three moments that define the film, one belonging to each of the stars. DiCaprio’s comes when Rick Dalton is able to pull himself together long enough to deliver an amazing performance during one scene of his guest spot on a TV show. The scene when his character throws a child to the ground is outstanding (and it works in tandem with his earlier out-of-character scene with the child actress (well played by Julia Butters). What makes this fantastic is DiCaprio’s ability to give a marvelous performance as the villain while simultaneously giving a great performance as the very different actor portraying the TV villain. I can’t help it. I’m a sucker for metadrama.
Best Scene, Margot Robbie:
When Sharon Tate goes to watch herself in a movie, magic happens. This honestly may be my favorite scene in the film. Robbie says almost nothing. In fact, after explaining who she is to the people at the box office, she does say nothing. She just watches herself in the movie, remembers working hard to make the movie, and quietly rejoices in the audience’s favorable reaction to her scenes in the movie. So Rick works through a personal problem by performing a scene, and Sharon experiences a high point in her life while watching herself perform in a film (with an audience).
Best Scene, Brad Pitt:
If I had to choose just one “Best Scene,” this would be it (although I’m a bit torn because Robbie’s scene is so film defining, too). Pitt’s stuntman character does in real life what DiCaprio’s character does in the movies. When Cliff follows someone to a familiar location (which has become very strange), he’s there for a showdown.
Best Action Sequence:
The final action sequence of the movie is something else. We’ve been waiting for it. I particularly love one moment that struck me as a Wizard of Oz joke, though possibly it is not intended that way.
Best Scene Visually:
I cannot imagine the work it would take to recreate 1969 Hollywood. Now granted, it helps if you’re in Hollywood already. (It would be much harder to recreate it in, say, my backyard.) But I’m blown away by the amount of visual detail (and popular music. This soundtrack must be great!) required to recreate this magical moment in time for the movie audience. I actually really enjoyed the montage when all the neon signs flash on in sequence, and night begins. Watching this, you feel like a time traveler. I wish I had lived in Hollywood in 1969, so I could comment on the accuracy of Taratino’s recreation.
The Negatives:
Quentin Taratino makes brilliant films, so I think it’s better to judge him by the excellence of his work than by his personal shortcomings (better for him, anyway). How can I say this? Taratino has definitely not spent his life being the exemplar of someone who makes a movie set a safe space for women. He’s one of these exceptional creative geniuses (just ask him), and if making his movie the right way means an actress must nearly die in a dangerous car crash during filming, or another actress must be actually strangled on camera, that’s just what has to happen! That’s art for you! Actresses love making good movies, too, so…
Obviously Uma Thurman has forgiven Tarantino for the car incident. (I mean her daughter is in this movie.) And Diane Kruger never seemed mad to begin with. (She got a SAG nomination, which seemed weird at the time, but now I understand.)
I don’t know Quentin Tarantino, but I do know he makes movies that sometimes appear to glorify violence, and that sometimes (often) his graphic onscreen violence involves women. (I’ll give him this. He writes genuinely good, meaty roles for the women.)
What bugged me a little watching this movie was that Tarantino suddenly seemed so invested in how to treat women the right away, like he wanted to pretend he started Time’s Up and #Me Too, and he organized the Women’s March. In Tarantino’s signature style, this sudden emphasis on treating women with respect feels like overkill.
The scene in which a precocious child actress (well played by Julia Butters) schools DiCaprio’s character in professionalism and asks him not to address her with cutesy nicknames was a bit grating to me. On a story level, I liked it. I believed the interaction between Rick Dalton and the child. But knowing that Tarantino is writing it makes it a bit irritating. On the one hand, a young child is inspiring DiCaprio’s character with her professionalism and dedication to her craft. And she is given a voice which she uses to speak up for women. But she’s a child who has no life experience. Imagine being middle aged with a drinking problem inspired by a life full of sorrows and getting a lecture on how to do your job from Hermione Granger. (I’ll bet a lot of people feel like that’s actually happening in real life since Emma Watson is such an outspoken advocate for women’s rights.)
Then later, during a scene, DiCaprio’s character throws this same girl on the floor. After the scene, he asks, “I didn’t hurt you, did I?” And she chipperly replies that she’s well protected, wearing arm pads. She’s happy. She wanted it to be a good scene. Plus, sometimes she just throws herself on the ground for fun!
In my experience, actresses are willing to throw themselves into a good part completely. They’re as invested in the success of the production as any writer or director. But still, there’s something a bit unsettling about this since Tarantino has already set up this child as the highly pragmatic, informed truth teller. It’s like he wants to exonerate himself from any suggestion of wrongdoing by creating a character who will inform us that he was right the whole time.
In this film, Quentin Taratino suddenly seems weirdly concerned about how to treat under-aged and vulnerable women. This isn’t exactly bad. But I am suspicious.
I do, however, love his treatment of Sharon Tate, and I think Robbie gives an outstanding, unconventional performance. (It’s unconventional because of the way the character is presented to us from a distance, and yet so intimately.)
If you’re thinking of seeing this film, do keep my sister’s criticisms in mind. It is long. The first two hours are slow in a sense. And the plot does advance non-conventionally. This may not be for everyone. She’s not wrong.
Overall:
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is my new favorite movie of 2019 (so far). For a Quentin Tarantino movie about the next door neighbor of Sharon Tate, it is shockingly light on violence. (But the violence does come eventually, so don’t expect this to be G-rated.) I personally loved the film and the strong performances of DiCaprio, Pitt, and Robbie. I recommend it highly with this key reservation; my younger sister hated it, and she’s a history professor who loves movies, too. I think you should go, but if you don’t like the movie, don’t blame me. Commiserate with my sister.
