Once Upon A Time...... in Hollywood: Film Review

Once Upon A Time...... in Hollywood: Film Review

Cast: Leonardo di Caprio, Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie
Director: Quentin Tarantino

The new Tarantino film, possibly his penultimate cinematic entry, is an odd beast.

Riddled with nods to his way of delivering film and saddled with his own tropes, Once Upon A Time...... in Hollywood is an elegaic and relaxed film, a hang out with buddies movie that's about the waxing and waning of the old Hollywood - before it erupts in another direction in the final 30 minutes.

Tarantino himself has asked for no spoilers, but suffice to say, the film zeroes in on Leonardo Di Caprio's Rick Dalton, a fading TV western star and his longtime stunt double Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt, a simmering performance that lounges in casual charm and charisma but offers hints at more).

It's 1969 Los Angeles, and the tides of change are sweeping through Hollywood, and Dalton's trying to find his place in what's ahead - is the Golden Years over for them all?

Reflexive and reflective, Once Upon A Time...... in Hollywood is an intriguing proposition that may at times test your Tarantino love and frustrate the casual cinema viewer.

While there's no doubting that Tarantino's evocative recreations of 1969 Hollywood shine out (from his love of locations to period details), there's also a feeling in a lot of the film of padding and endless scenes of musical cues and scenes of driving simply being thrown into the mix, just for the sake of a soundtrack.

There's also a feeling of more of a meandering narrative than has ever been deployed before; it's never quite clear whose story exactly the film is thanks to intersecting lines that don't quite cross with thematic power as is usual with Tarantino.

And yet despite all of that, and a troublesome ending sequence which is true Tarantino, the film offers many pleasures, even if it's not one of Quentin's best. There's a buddy feeling throughout and the vibe between Pitt and DiCaprio is a good one throughout, making being in their company never a chore.

But without some expeditious editing, Tarantino's spinning a yarn that's a little too long in the tooth, no matter what allegories you pour on the relationship between Rick and Cliff and how it reflects real life.

It wallows when it doesn't need to and drifts as it crosses genres between revenge fantasy and period drama, and satire on the time and Tarantino's western fascinations.

All in all though Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood is a fairy tale, a rumination of times gone, all poured through a Tarantino prism; yet it's an intriguing and entertaining enigma that will have you talking and thinking long after the sun's set on 1969 Los Angeles.