Movie Review – Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood2 min read

Quentin Tarantino’s 9th film was loved by critics and fans and raked in at the box office $134m domestically and $178m worldwide making it Quentin Tarantino 2nd highest-grossing film.

The story is about Rick Dalton ( Leonardo DiCaprio) and his stunt double, Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt), making their way through a patchy a period in Dalton’s acting career but he takes refuge in knowing his neighbours are big shots in Hollywood so one interaction will open the doors to his career.

The other main character of the film is Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie) and her life in a polyamorous relationship. Apart from knowing her taste in men which are short and talented men, we don’t learn much about Tate’s character apart from her pride in her acting career. In reality, she was killed while she was pregnant by one of Manson’s family members, which shocked Hollywood.

The only character development in the film is Rick Dalton where we began the film with him wallowing at his career failure to progress from being the antagonist, even though he was offered to star in Spaghetti Westerns which he initially rejected. He hit rock bottom when he failed to deliver in a scene multiple times but bounced back up after delivering a scene that gained praise from the director and his co-workers.

The only description we know about Cliff Booth is, a wartime hero who was accused of killing his wife but avoided any repercussions. Consequently, he was ostracised in Hollywood which would probably explain his unfading loyalty towards Rick after given a job as a stunt double but he also acts as Rick’s emotional support.

The anonymous narrator (Tarantino) first appears to explain the reason Cliff is driving Rick around due to being banned for drink driving while showing a flashback of an aftermath of a crash. The narrator appeared again on the night Manson’s Family members arrived.

The second problem is the flashbacks and how they staggered the flow of the film. At one point we see Cliff heading to Rick’s home to fix the antenna, at that moment he had a long flashback which included why he was sent home which seems out of place.

The best scene had to be when Rick kept failing to deliver his lines and how the camera angle kept changing. It starts with Rick confronting the protagonist with an arc shot and the screen length reduces to show it’s a movie being recorded but when the actor breaks character the screen goes back to normal.

Overall, the story lacked a good story to tell but it was compensated with good acting and the different methods used.

7/10.

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