Once Upon a Time...In Hollywood

          In his observation/love letter to the golden age of Hollywood, Quentin Tarantino delivers to us his ninth film: Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood. The film stars Leonardo Dicaprio, Brad Pitt, and Margot Robbie (hardly). Rick Dalton (Dicaprio) is worried that he is coming upon a decline in his career and his friend/stunt double Cliff Booth (Pitt) helps him out with rides and such and he is there as the sort of therapeutic friend for Dalton. As far as plot goes, that's pretty much all you're going to get. The film follows the two as Dalton struggles to come to terms with the fate of his acting career and if it's going to be okay or if he's going to become a has-been. Along the way, we get nice shots and historical (accurate or not, I'm not sure) snaps of life in Los Angeles during the late 1960s. Oh yeah, and Sharon Tate is in there too.
          Recreating the 60s must have been a feat because it's pulled off extremely well in this film. From the costumes and cars to the outfits and music, everything comes together to create a cohesive, aesthetically pleasing world. I used the term "love-letter" earlier because Tarantino, through top-notch cinematography, shows his love and passion for this era of filmmaking and this era of life in Los Angeles. Tarantino includes hippie culture as well and, if you know your Hollywood history and have followed the film's production, then you'll know that the infamous Charles Manson and the Manson family has a role to play in this complicated tale. This realization of the era is also boosted by the outstanding performances of Dicaprio and Pitt. The writing and direction of the film is crafted to serve their strengths. Dicaprio has more of an emotional range, but Pitt is there to be the more "manly" type. Although the runtime can feel overly daunting, the two kept my engagement up throughout the movie.
          This film has many layers to it and they all serve a purpose, but some aspects can feel a bit pushed to the side or unnecessary. The trailers made the inclusion of Sharon Tate out to be intertwined with Dalton and Booth, but her role in the film serves no purpose higher than a contribution to the "observation of the era" aspect. My lack of knowledge in the era and its history is probably to blame for this assumption. She is shown going to parties, attending movies that she's acted in, and being a partner to her husband at the time, Roman Polanski. If you really know your movie history, then you'll be surprised by how the film handles her fate.
          One thing I mentioned earlier is that the runtime can feel bloated. Long runtimes are not foreign to Tarantino and are most likely welcome by fans, but how the film handles the stories is sometimes unbalanced. Some scenes overstay their welcome, but I understand that Tarantino has a method to his madness. All these characters and their many layers and adventures contribute to a perspective that, if you think about it, is given away in the title. "Once Upon a Time" is a phrase usually associated with the introduction of fairytales and I think that was the overall goal of the movie. Fairytales, from what I understand, involve multiple characters and create envious, fictional worlds. After watching this film, I definitely wanted to time travel and live in the 60s. Once Upon a Time...In Hollywood, in my opinion, is an adult fairytale that successfully crafts its non-fictitious world and occupies the higher end of Tarantino's nine films. It's long because it has a goal to achieve. Granted, the only other of his films I've seen are Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill, but his filmmaking is a style that I can get behind, even if I'm late to the game. 9/10