2019 | Dir. Quentin Tarantino | 161 Minutes
"Hey, you're Rick fucking Dalton. Don’t you forget it."
A fading star and his unemployable stunt double struggle to find their place in Hollywood as palatable opportunities run out. Meanwhile, misfortune creeps toward the doorstep of an enthusiastic up-and-coming talent.
Deeply immersive, if slightly meandering, Quentin Tarantino's Tinseltown fairy tale transports its viewers back an idealized time and place, and basks in nostalgia for a bygone era, recreating the look and feel of Hollywood in 1969 with painstaking attention to detail. Tarantino's trademark style is more focused and refined than ever as he deliberately holds back on his penchant for graphic violence until the last possible moment in favor of his love for spending time with his idiosyncratic characters. Though the leisurely-paced picture gradually establishes a tangible threat that fully emerges in an inevitable climatic confrontation, most of film is primarily centered on the mundane moments and personal day-to-day struggles that make up the lives of its protagonists.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood specifically explores three fateful days in the lives of its captivating lead characters as they reflect on the state of their respective careers, potentially facing the end of their livelihood whether they know it or not. Hungry for a break that would lift him out of his rut, Rick is an insecure mess, flubbing his lines and breaking down in tears at the thought of giving up his career as he knows it. An offer to make cheap movies in Rome is the last thing he wants, perceiving the option to be an admission of defeat, but he reluctantly takes the trip after staging one, potentially final, genuinely uplifting comeback on the set of a television pilot, turning a nightmare shooting day into a great one. Out-of-work stunt performer Cliff Booth is generally carefree but clearly lacks a proper outlet for his thrill-seeking tendencies, speeding down the streets of Hollywood and welcoming physical altercation with reckless abandon. A discouraging visit to a decrepit movie ranch, now overrun by shifty hippies, to see an old friend offers Cliff and the audience no hope for the future whatsoever. Emerging movie star Sharon Tate takes every opportunity to bask in her nascent stardom. Sitting in a general screening of The Wrecking Crew, she takes in the audience's gratifying favorable reaction to her breakout performance with such joy that it's easy to relish the feeling vicariously through her. All three are unaware of the true danger that lurks just around the corner, but on one fateful summer evening, their narratives reach a conclusion that plays against expectations, and real world history, in the most wonderful way imaginable. Exhilaratingly, the picture finally offers Cliff an appropriate release for his violent tendencies, and grants Rick an unlikely opportunity to make a potentially career-saving connection.
Leonardo DiCaprio is hilarious but also extremely affecting as the vulnerable Rick. His sadness and his triumphs become engaging visceral experiences due to DiCaprio's admirable commitment to the role. Brad Pitt exudes a calm affably self-assured quality that presents Cliff as a heroic figure despite the character's violent character flaws and probable criminal history. The camaraderie between DiCaprio and Pitt feels absolutely genuine and provides some of the film's most touching moments as Pitt is convincingly sweet when Cliff consistently offers Rick unconditional emotional support. Margot Robbie's role as Sharon Tate is disappointingly underwritten, as Tate serves mostly as an ethereal presence to be observed and appreciated from a distance, but Robbie makes the very most of it, affectingly emanating the unadulterated joy Tate feels as a freshly-minted movie star. The magnificent ensemble cast also features screen legend Al Pacino as an enthusiastic movie producer, Emile Hirsch as celebrity hairdresser and kung fu enthusiast Jay Sebring, Kurt Russell as a veteran stunt coordinator and narrator of a few key scenes, Margaret Qualley as enticing Manson acolyte Pussycat, Mike Moh pulling off an uncanny impression of Bruce Lee in both voice and physical prowess, Timothy Olyphant as TV western star James Stacy, Dakota Fanning as the formidable Squeaky Fromme, Austin Butler as homicidal fuck-up Tex Watson, Bruce Dern as the hapless George Spahn, Damon Herriman briefly appearing Charles Manson, and many others.
Funny, reflective, and remarkably personal, Quentin Tarantino's ninth film is a lavish love letter to the auteur's favorite era in the history of his favorite town. The sentimentality on display in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is lulling and infectious, juxtaposing against the growing sense of trepidation that builds through the course of the story. Luckily for its lead characters, and its audience, the world of this fable in one in which everyone who deserves a second chance receives one, and dreams never have to end.
MID-CREDITS STINGER
An advertisement for a particular cigarette brand featuring Rick Dalton.
RED APPLE CIGARETTES
- Cliff Booth's brand of choice
- Decidedly not Rick Dalton's brand of choice despite his professional endorsement
FOOT STUFF
- Multiple lingering shots of Sharon Tate's bare feet as she lies in bed, and as she puts them up in a movie theater
- Prominent shots of Pussycat's bare feet on Cliff's dashboard
NOTABLE NEEDLE-DROPS
- Sharon Tate's exuberance can be felt through the Paul Revere and the Raiders records that regularly play in her home
- José Feliciano's mournful take on "California Dreamin'" is a beautiful fit to mark an ending of sorts, capping off the second act of the film
- Vanilla Fudge's groovy psychedelic cover of "You Keep Me Hangin' On" perfectly complements the events that unfold during the pivotal home invasion climax
FRAGMENTS
- The Columbia Pictures studio logo that opens the film is a take on the design that was used from 1968 to 1976
- Aspects of Rick Dalton's career are based in part on Burt Reynolds' trajectory; Nebraska Jim is a tongue-in-check reference to the 1966 Spaghetti Western Navajo Joe starring, and famously derided by, Burt Reynolds
- Burt Reynolds was set to play George Spahn but passed away before he was scheduled to shoot his scenes
- Pussycat is loosely based on Manson Family member Kathryn Lutesinger who was nicknamed "Kitty"
- Damon Herriman also plays Charles Manson on the Netfilx series Mindhunter
- Madisen Beaty who appears as Patricia "Katie" Krenwinkel previously played Krenwinkel on the NBC television series Aquarius
- As television star Wayne Maunder, the film features Luke Perry in his final performance before he passed away in February 2019
007 CONNECTIONS
- Michael Madsen (Damian Falco in Die Another Day)
MCU CONNECTIONS
- Kurt Russell (Ego in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2)
