Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

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Once Upon a Time in Hollywood follows western star Rick Dalton (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) and his stunt double, Cliff Booth (played by Brad Pitt) as they navigate various ins and outs of Hollywood life in the year of 1969. So, this was one of my most anticipated movies of 2019 without a doubt. Quentin Tarantino is one of my all-time favorite filmmakers. What’s interesting to me is that this film almost feels restrained—for Tarantino anyways. I should say that the violence is still there. There’s just quite a bit less of it compared to some of Tarantino’s other films. As always, the writing is pretty on point. His dialogue is still sharp. The performances are all pretty solid. The clear stand-outs to me are DiCaprio, Pitt, and Margot Robbie. Robbie is someone who I think could easily be overlooked because she isn’t loud and showy. However, I think there’s a quiet, reserved nature to the performance that really makes it work. Some of the smaller, cameo roles should also be commended in my opinion. If I have flaws, there’s really only one for me. It comes more from how conflicted I feel about the film’s length. The film is around 160 minutes long, and I don’t know if it needs to be. At the same time, I don’t know exactly what I would cut, because nothing really feels unnecessary. Overall, I loved this movie, and think it’s honestly another strong film in Tarantino’s filmography. 

9 / 10