Lights..Camera..Reaction!: Once Upon A Time in Hollywood

Quentin Tarantino's back with his 9th film, based in 1969 Hollywood, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt alongside a great assemble cast. Where a plot is almost non-existent, the characters generally excel and create some of the best back and forth in any Tarantino flick. DiCaprio and Pitt make for a dynamic buddy pairing where they both are worthy of nominations come Awards season, yet this is very much Pitt's movie, he clearly has a ton of fun showing a side of him we have yet to see, and he is a shoe-in for being nominated for Best Supporting Actor. I'll never complain about watching Margot Robbie, as she continues to be excellent as Sharon Tate, but her storyline matters little in the grand scheme of the movie.

At 2 hours and 40 minutes, I can't help but think Sharon Tate could've had 5 minutes of screentime and the movie would've been better for it and shedding a solid half an hour. Overall, I enjoyed "Once Upon a Time" for it's great vignettes, but if you're a Tarantino fan or an old Hollywood fan in general you will like this movie quite a bit more than me.

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I'll dive into the positives first so I don't sound too negative here, because I did really enjoy this movie. First off, like I mentioned, Brad Pitt steals this movie as stuntman Cliff Booth. He's downright hilarious and carries a weight to the character that few could. He is the main part of two of my favorite scenes in the movie, continuing to thrive under Tarantino's writing. Lt. Aldo Raine is a fantastic character from "Inglorious Bastards" and he brings the charisma here, without the Nazi Scalps. Surprisingly this is Leo's first time back infront of a camera since 2015 and his Oscar win for "The Revenant," which is really easy to forget since we've come to take him for granted at times. I don't remember watching DiCaprio ever be this funny. As washed-up Hollywood leading-man Rick Dalton, he is coming to grips with the reality that he's just a TV supporting actor for up-and-comers makes for concoction of a performance. He is at his best in his scenes with Pitt and especially newcomer Julie Butters who is only 10 years old!! She is so good and has a long career ahead of her.

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I will reiterate Margot Robbie is great as Sharon Tate and has yet to give a bad performance but back to her in a minute. The rest of the fantastic ensemble featuring; Kurt Russell, Al Pacino, Emile Hirsh, Timothy Olyphant, Margaret Qualley (Leftovers shoutout!), Austin Butler, Mike Moh, Luke Perry (RIP), Dakota Fanning, and many more make for a truly legendary cast. Tarantino's writing is as good, if not better, than it has ever been. Plus the cinematography from Robert Robinson is excellent. And the soundtrack is top notch, as expected.

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As for the negatives, I touched on it up top - little to no plot. If you're not gonna have a plot then you need to have great characters, and Tarantino achieves this but for me, it was still a big detractor since you didn't know where the story was going. He also tries so hard to subvert expectations, so going into this, have the "Inglorious Bastards" in the back of your mind. While I expected the runtime to be long, the 2 hours and 40 mins felt even longer because of the lack of plot. Here is where Sharon Tate and friends kick in. They are there to serve the Charlie Manson Cult storyline. That's as far as I can go without spoilers. Even if you cut 90% of Sharon Tate out of the movie, you could've achieved the same movie in 30 less minutes. But I do get what he was trying to get to, it just didn't work for me. Nor did some of his other setups but you'll have to watch to find out.

Overall, Tarantino has made a very good movie, probably won't end up on my top 10 of the year, but should get some attention for writing, cinematography, and acting come awards season. He's stated the intent to retire after 10 movies, which would shock everyone if he actually went through with it, and "Once Upon a Time" makes you want even more, that's the best compliment. This is possibly his most hilarious movie and there are some real laugh out loud moments mixed with really well done tension. Besides "Avengers: Endgame," "Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood" might have the best 3rd act of 2019 so you'll definitely not regret spending the money when you get there.

For all of the major problems I have with the film, I'll still be quoting Brad Pitt all year and still happily give it a: B-

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-Ryan, TGYK