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**WARNING — LAST PARAGRAPH CONTAINS SPOILERS**
Well Quentin Tarantino is back in action with his ninth film, and it’s clearly his love letter to the Golden Age of Hollywood and the 1960’s era: Once Upon a Time In Hollywood.
Now I saw this movie yesterday, and I’ll just come right out and say that I really enjoyed this film! I had a lot of fun. I think Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt clearly stole the show and put on some of the best performances of their careers.
My anticipation was pretty high to begin with because I’m a huge fan of Tarantino and Pitt, and an even bigger Leo fan. So I’m happy to say my expectations were met and this film was an all around blast to watch.
Now I do have a big complaint about this film, so let me get it out of the way first. I thought this film was way too damn long. Seems to be a common issue with a lot of people.
I feel like you could’ve cut at least thirty minutes off this film and it still would’ve had the same impact. Way too many driving around shots of characters in their cars. I get it, Tarantino wanted to showcase their re-created 1960’s Hollywood environment, but come on man.
Way too many unnecessary driving shots. Also I felt a lot of the scenes with Leo on the cowboy film set drug on a little long as well, but damn it, that scene of Leo bitching at himself in his trailer was one of the funniest damn things I’ve seen in a long time.
But was the excessive length a movie-killer for me? Absolutely not. I still loved this film. I expected it to begin with, because we all know Tarantino makes some long ass movies.
But that’s one of the things I love about the dude. He makes his own films the way he wants to. He doesn’t let the studio get in the way or chop his shit down. No no… He puts everything he wants on the screen, and I commend him for that.
Obviously like I said, Leo and Brad were phenomenal in this movie. I thought the scene with the eight-year-old girl and Leo was fantastic. I love the subtle back and forth everyday conversation.
As a filmmaker myself, I draw inspiration from scenes like that. There were a lot of cameos in this film, but most of them were just standard cameos. Wasn’t anything too exciting. The Bruce Lee cameo was fine, but I did think they did a little bit disservice to him.
Now let’s talk Sharon Tate and the Manson family. Now if you’re not familiar with that incident, I’m not gonna explain it. Google it.
I thought Margot Robbie did a great job, but I also thought the Sharon Tate character and that whole subplot was useless to the film. It was still enjoyable but I get why Tarantino included it. I’m gonna delve into a couple of spoilers real quick so look away!
*SPOILERS*
I loved the ending. The twist was excellent. I’m sure like a lot of people, I thought the film was gonna build up to the climax, where Tarantino would re-create the infamous murder of Sharon Tate and her friends.
I was very elated and overjoyed to see Tarantino re-write history and go a completely different route. I’m not gonna get into what happens, but I think it was one of the best endings to a film I’ve ever seen. Total Tarantino ending in my opinion. Just like Inglorious Basterds where he re-wrote history as well.
I laughed my ass off the entire sequence, it was worth the long wait to the climax.
Overall, Once Upon a Time In Hollywood is a fun ride. I laughed all throughout, Leo and Brad were hilarious and on their A-game. Their chemistry is without a doubt exceptional.
The climax was incredible and this film will definitely make its way to the top of my Tarantino rankings. I’m gonna give it an 7.5/10 and I highly recommend going to see it!