Once Upon a Time In… Hollywood, the 9th film from Quentin Tarantino, follows the story of middling actor Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his stunt double/best friend Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) as they navigate the Summer of 1969 trying to keep Rick’s career afloat. Margot Robbie also stars as Dalton’s next door neighbor, a fictionalized version of real life actress Sharon Tate, who met a sad fate at the hands of Charles Manson (Damon Herrimon) during that same summer.
Hollywood delivers everything you expect from a Tarantino film: lots of style, beautiful shots which transport you into 1969 Hollywood, and dedicated performances from its leads. The film opens with Rick Dalton meeting with movie agent Marvin Schwarzs (Al Pacino). One sobering conversation later brings Rick to the realization that his career trajectory is not going where he would like. We follow Dalton through various movie sets as he feverishly works to cling to whatever career he has left. DiCaprio perfectly captures Rick’s desperate turmoil, evoking empathy with every high and low of hoping to find work in the next pilot season. The audience roots for Dalton through each subsequent meltdown and breakthrough.
Alongside the many pilot sets we visit with Dalton, we are brought along on the day-to-day of the other two leads. Pitt’s Cliff oozes unshakeable cool as he chauffeurs Dalton to his next gig or house sits between stunt jobs Rick can procure for him. Through flashbacks to previous gigs, we learn of some of Rick and Cliff’s history. Cliff’s unwavering dedication to Rick through the years charms the audience into forgiving some possibly nefarious character that would vilify other characters/actors. Robbie is the epitome of sweetness throughout the film, portraying Tate as a glowing presence who brings lights to everything she touches. You can’t but smile along as she sneaks into a theater to see others’ reactions to one of her roles.
Once Upon a Time spends its run following the trio up and down Hollywood as they interact with a gallery of characters whom leave memorable impressions no matter the screen time. Particularly notable scenes include young actress Trudi (Judy Butters) giving advice to Rick on set, a not-so-friendly challenge between Cliff and Bruce Lee (Mike Moh), and a dubious visit to Spahn Movie Ranch with a Manson “family” flower-girl named Pussycat (Margaret Qualley).
Unfortunately, the film ends up being more of a collection of these memorable moments than a cohesive narrative of any significance. It plays like the behind-the scenes extra on the Blu Ray of a remastered classic Western. We slog along from one extravagant (or extravagantly ordinary) happening to the next with a lot of music-laden empty space between isolated pieces of dialogue. The aforementioned ranch scene and a climactic ending are two points (and about 40 minutes) of suspense and forward movement sprinkled alongside two hours of unexplored character development, late-60s rumination, and unrelated events with fictionalized versions of real-life people. I daresay we have a Tarantino film that is… boring.
Quentin’s films have always leaned towards the extravagant and exaggerated, often times being ultra-gory and highly sensory. Once Upon a Time In… Hollywood may be one of his least violent and most grounded films to date. By the end of the film, I was left with the feeling that his stories rely on the excessiveness to create a sense of purpose. Maybe this is his love letter to fellow colleagues who can relate to the erratic Hollywood lifestyle. But for the rest of us, we are left on the outside looking in, trying to figure out what was the ultimate point. The film is ultimately a disjointed look into the undulating lives of three people at differing levels of success within the entertainment industry in the late 60s. More of a sneak-peek documentary than an interesting biopic narrative. I am giving Once Upon a Time In… Hollywood 6/10 sighs of relief at the absence of a particular racial slur in a Tarantino film.