Review: Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019)

Last time, we talked about the seminal classic that is Pulp Fiction. Twenty-five years later, does Tarantino still have it?

Back in 2015, he gave us The Hateful Eight, which was somewhat different in tone to the extravaganza of violence, racial slurs, elaborate conversations, and more racial slurs, that was Django Unchained. You still had the Tarantino bursts of blood and violence, but it focused a lot more on building tension and replicating the atmosphere of things like John Carpenter’s The Thing (down to using parts of the same soundtrack). As such, Tarantino seemed to be taking a different turn with Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, which is somewhat more character-focused and melancholy than you may expect…for the most part.

Leonardo DiCaprio returns from Django playing Rick Dalton, a washed-up TV actor struggling in 1969 Hollywood. Like his character in Django, DiCaprio plays a bit of a schmuck, albeit a considerably more sympathetic one—but a schmuck who has a genuine friendship with his more physically capable friend Cliff, played by Brad Pitt. Much of the first half or so is based around them meandering through the studios and the sets of the time—you can tell Tarantino is certainly relishing recreating the era, but even compared to Hateful Eight, it takes its time in getting to the over the top bloodiness you might expect from Tarantino.

In between all this, Margot Robbie is playing Sharon Tate, Rick’s neighbor, but her performance is pretty low-key, and her character like it could’ve been more substantial. You do get a nice scene of her getting herself into a screening of Tate flick The Wrecking Crew (and, not for the only time in the film, Tarantino indulges his interest in trying to examine possible verrucas). Margot does a fine job with what she has, with expressions conveying things well, but it’s pretty separate from DiCaprio and Pitt.

Oh, and expect lots and lots of recreation of sixties film and TV. Yes, Tarantino basically built his career on this sort of throwback, and the western scenes with DiCaprio are pretty fun—but there are times when you might feel that the film gets past recreations of obscure Italian Bond knockoffs and spaghetti cowboy flicks. Even for movie buffs it may feel a bit indulgent.

There’s also a controversial scene with Cliff and Bruce Lee, with the latter presented as somewhat of an arrogant blowhard. In fairness, the way it’s framed suggests that it’s Cliff’s self-serving memory, and Lee himself is shown much more positively later in a snippet of him training Tate for some moves for The Wrecking Crew (which he really did). But you’ll have to make up your own mind about it.

But the movie definitely has its highlights, especially when the Manson Family start entering the plot in full. There’s a sequence set on Spahn Ranch that’s very tense and nicely ominous—you can slowly feel a knife-edge feeling creeping up your spine, with the knowledge of what this cult was actually capable of. This eventually leads to the climax, which we’ll get to, although I feel there could’ve been some more personal connection set up between the cult and the protagonists.

And what a climax we get. I don’t want to say too much, but let’s just say that Tarantino saved a lot for last. The audience I was watching with loved it, and every shot got reactions both wincing and elated. That alone certainly will assure you that Tarantino’s talent for catharsis certainly hasn’t gone anywhere.

Overall, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood does feel slightly more personal for Tarantino, harking back to classic-era cinema and perhaps expressing some middle-age uncertainty. As the title suggests, you can take some of it as a fairy tale of sorts, albeit with a lot more boozing and psychotic hippies. However, it is much more of a slow burner, and regular audiences who may not be as enamored with mid-20^th century mediums may find it harder to get into. For me, it’s still a well-performed flick with its share of very memorable moments, but I probably won’t place it among my favorite Tarantino flicks. Give it a watch and judge for yourself.