It's not that I don't like any of his films; on the contrary, I like most of them, and none of them are truly bad films. I'd even consider Inglourious Basterds one of my all-time faves. I just do not understand the pedestal people put him on. I mean, I get why people love his films so much: they're slick, stylish and bathed in gratuitous violence and swearing, appealing to the lizard brain in all us younger film nerds, whilst still being competent enough and packed with references to classic cinema to make us feel like we're watching something worthwhile and of artistic merit.
And there's nothing wrong with that as an auteur style, it clearly appeals and has produced some good films. But come on now, Pulp Fiction's not that good.
Regardless of your thoughts on the Tarantino catalogue, every artist can and does make mistakes, and I think Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is his first true misstep. As mentioned above, Tarantino's work is constantly referencing and calling back to the classic era of Hollywood, so why not cut out the middleman and make a film explicitly set in and concerning the period? Not a bad concept on paper, but when one is in love with the setting to the extent that Tarantino is, it's quite easy to overlook things like plot when you're enthusiastically *ahem* reminiscing about how things used to be.
The biggest issue with the plot is that it's almost non-existent. DiCaprio plays a washed-up actor, with Pitt as his close friend and stunt-double. DiCaprio is the main protagonist and has the most to do, his story ostensibly being the re-birth of his film career after having faded from public perception, trading up the classic TV western for the then-new spaghetti western. There's a hint of conflict with him trying to assimilate back into the world of acting after spending so many years doing nothing but drinking, as well as the realisation that the best years of his career are behind him and he must make way for the new generation, but other than that there's really not much to his story. He pretty much just wants to be in a film, is offered a role, does it well and then he's set. End of arc.
Still, more than Pitt has to do, who basically just bums around doing stuff, most notably getting involved with a bunch of young girls living in a sort of commune on the outskirts of LA. And while this sequence has some nice horror-movie-esque tension to it, it doesn't really have much to do with anything, and the rest of Pitt's scenes are equally inconsequential, if not more so.
The last character of note, though I hesitate to call her a protagonist, is Margot Robbie playing real-life film star Sharon Tate, a fact I did not realise until researching the film afterwards. Not that it matters too much though, since the only thing she really does is watch a film she's in at the cinema, and every time we cut back to her, she's just sitting there, grinning and enjoying herself. But then that's it: nothing else happens, and there's no payoff to her character whatsoever despite just simply establishing her existence for the sake of the ending. We'll get to that.
And that's really about it in terms of plot, it's just a load of characters doing stuff in 60's Hollywood, there's no real overarching story or conflict, it's a surprisingly sedate movie for Tarantino, playing out like a romanticised stroll down memory lane. There's nothing wrong with slow cinema, but there's got to be something driving it and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood just feels like someone stalling for time until they can think of a story that never comes to them.
Then, (Spoiler time!) just past the two-hour mark, as what passes as the story is wrapping itself up, with DiCaprio enjoying his newfound success and everything feeling like it's coming to a close, Tarantino smacks himself in the head and shouts "Shit! I forgot the gratuitous violence!" And so the last sequence of the film becomes a home invasion sequence, where drugged up DiCaprio and Pitt viciously defend themselves against a group of murderers. At the time, this felt incredibly out of the blue, but having since done my research, it turns out that this is Basterds-esque historic revisionism, in reference to Sharon Tate's murder by followers of Charles Manson. So that at least checks out, but what it doesn't fix, and the more pressing of the issues, is that this is an incredibly jarring tonal shift. From the relatively calm and laid-back atmosphere the film had been going for, we suddenly jump to A Clockwork Orange as envisioned by Nicolas Winding Refn. And while the gore is handled as tongue-in-cheek and cathartically as usual for a Tarantino picture, it still feels like we've just watched two entirely different films.
This sequence is also the closest thing to a resolution for the Sharon Tate 'plotline', in that she's introduced just so we know who she is when she is saved by Pitt and DiCaprio in the end. And since the film effectively wrapped up its main plot prior to the home invasion sequence, the Sharon Tate plot in total becomes utterly superfluous. I get the impression Sharon Tate and her being rescued from the Manson murders may have been Tarantino's main interest in the story, and unfortunately, this somehow got displaced from the focal point of the film as it was produced. Basterds shows that when fully embraced, the ultraviolent historical revisionism can work really well, and I feel if the film had stuck more closely to this concept we would have ended up with a much tighter, focused and generally more entertaining product. As it is, this ending sticks out like a sore thumb, and almost reads like a last-ditch effort to make sure the audience is still awake and that the Tarantino fanboys have gotten their fix of gratuitous violence so they don't throw a hissy fit.
End of Spoilers
Ultimately, I think this is Tarantino's weakest film to date, and once that new film buzz starts to die down, I doubt Once Upon a Time in Hollywood will be remembered in the top tier of his work. Not so much a story as an old man aimlessly rambling about the good old days whilst gently masturbating.
Tarantino plans to make one last film before he retires, but with the way this one went, I wonder whether he'll be going out with a bang or a whimper. Odds aren't looking good, but maybe next time he'll at least remember to finish writing his story before shooting it.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood - 2019 - USA - Quentin Tarantino
Score: 5
Recommendation: Low
