ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD – Review

As the Summer film season begins to wind down, moviegoers get to do a little “universe-jumping” once again. That sounds a touch out there, doesn’t it? Well, over this year we’ve had three trips to the “Marvel movie universe” (we’re not going to count the dud that was DARK PHOENIX). And three trips to the “Disney classics universe (I’m speaking of the live-action/CGI hybrid remakes DUMBO, ALADDIN, and current box office beast THE LION KING). Now it’s time for a long-overdue (nearly four years) trek into the “Tarantino movie universe”. Aside from springing from the mind (and on to the page and camera lense) of Quentin, the now nine films (sidebar controversies: Is KILL BILL really just one film? Do we count his half of GRINDHOUSE? What about his single scene in the first SIN CITY?) share many actors, some fictional “products”, and a love of different film genres (plus that often “off-kilter” dialogue). Well with this current project, QT gets to indulge his love of a motion picture “era”, LA history/scandals, and (shocking) his admiration for (wha-?) television! These diverse ingredients are mixed together by master chef Quentin in a frothy, tart, but tasty concoction he’s dubbed ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD. Let’s chow down!

The title “time ” is the swinging 1960s. The first stop is 62 as we watch a promotional spot for NBC’s newest hit, “Bounty Law” a 30 minute black and white Western starring rising star Rick Dalton (Leonardo Di Caprio) as a wandering bounty hunter. During that same year, a TV “entertainment” reporter does a “puff piece” on set interview with Rick and his stunt double Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt). Spring ahead to February 1969 (and color, of course). “Bounty Law” is in rerun/syndication heaven, but Rick and Cliff are still a team. Cliff is driver, house “handyman” and al around “go-fer” to Rick as he hustles around LA for work. Part of that hustle this particular evening is meeting with talent agent Marvin Schwarzs (Al Pacino) at industry eatery Musso and Frank’s. Rick’s career anxiety has him chainsmoking and he’s developing a pronounced stammer (nearly a stutter). He’s not put at ease as Marvin delivers a devasting “wake up call” telling him that his film career has stalled since playing the ‘heavy of the week” on countless TV shows, while also trying to sell him on the idea of headlining some films shot and produced in Italy. This notion pains Rick as he and Cliff head back to his Hollywood Hills home. There they see the arrival of his neighbors (they bought the gated mansion a good ways down the road), new movie royalty director Roman Polanski and his gorgeous movie star bride Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie). The next morning Rick has to report to the set of the new CBS Western called “Lancer” where he’s playing another “baddie” (ringleader of an outlaw gang). It’s a long day as he deals with an arty flamboyant director, a precocious child star, and his ego-crushing “flubs”. Cliff, as he reflects on his checkered past, cruises the city in Rick’s sporty set of wheels. After a couple of near encounters, he decides to give a ride to a young “hippie chick” named “Pussycat” (Margaret Qualley). He takes her to her “family” dwelling at an old movie Western set locale, the Spahn Ranch. There Cliff is told about the family’s leader “Charlie” from two of the several young ladies, as he gets a general “weird vibe” from the familiar old place and its new young “occupants”. Meanwhile, Tate is seen around LA, dancing at the Playboy mansion, and even sneaking into a matinee of her latest flick. Six months later, she’s nearly ready to give birth as Rick and Cliff enjoy one last night on the town. But later that evening, sinister long-haired invaders make their way through the exclusive private neighborhood. What could they be plotting on this warm August night?

What gives this “epic’ tale a most human touch is the friendship of the two main characters. Tarantino, in an inspired bit of casting, paired two veterans of previous films, creating a male duo (or “bromance”) that rivals another started in 69 (the first Redford/Newman, BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID). DiCaprio (DJANGO UNCHAINED) and Pitt (INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS) have a believable compelling chemistry though their characters and acting styles are quite different. Dalton is a climber losing his grip on “fame mountain” and DiCaprio shows us the sweaty panic as he seems to be slowly sliding below the “summit”. He gives us that veneer of confidence slowly eroding in a great scene as DiCaprio has Rick gives himself a scorching pep talk. And in those faux film and TV clips, Rick’s is every inch a star (even stiffly crooning an old pop tune as a trio of Hullaballoo dancers manically gyrate around him). The opposite of that anxious actor is Pitt’s charismatic, colossally cool stunt man Cliff. He seems to have that West Coast surfer attitude (he sports a loose Hawaiian shirt in most scenes), just letting the universe’s “waves” take him on a “life ride”. Still, Pitt lets us see a bit of the darkness beneath the “dude-ness”, trying to get ahead of a past that the “business” still talks about in whispers behind his back. And while Rick is the on-screen action hero, Cliff strolls into deadly danger in one of the film’s most tension-filled sequences (we see Pitt “scoping” his surrounding with his eyes, slowly “casing’ the rooms, spotting possible weapons and escape routes). Here’s hoping another savvy director will come up with another project for this talented twosome (unless Quentin does a follow-up).

This “dream team” is supported by a great cast of QT vets, established stars, and newcomers. Squarely in that middle category is the radiant Robbie who literally lights up the screen as Hollywood’s new “golden girl” Sharon Tate. Robbie plays her as a graceful diety, gliding through tinsel town, combining old studio glamour and the free-spirited changing late 60s era. Though she’s in a most unusual relationship (she lives in a home with her hubby and ex-boyfriend), Robbie gives her a sweet youthful innocence, particularly in the movie theatre scenes. Eschewing a familiar cliche’ (“I can’t watch myself on-screen”), Tate is filled with joy, viewing her screen persona (QT uses real footage of Tate) and drinking in the audience reactions. Plus Robbie looks completely natural in the period fashions (no “playing dress-up” ). The often bombastic Pacino finds just the right tone for the brutally honest agent, Schwarzs going smoothly from compliments to dire predictions of career doom (“Ya’ gonna’ be a Batman villain next? Pow…zip…zoom”). He can schmooze with the best, but he’s not stuck in the past. Kurt Russell is terrific as a studio stunt director who likes Rick, but can’t abide Cliff (his character may be connected to a previous QT work). Damian Lewis and Mike Moh have memorable cameos as real movie icons, while Timothy Olyphant and the late Luke Perry have great scenes as the stars of “Lancer”. On that same TV show setting, Julia Butters is a real scene-stealer as Rick’s unlikely muse/advisor. Actually, many of the screen newcomers are second-generation actors. Bruce Willis’ daughter Rumer is one of Tate’s actress pals, while several others are part of the hippie “family”. Qualley (really becomes a “flower child”) is the daughter of Andie MacDowell, along with Maya Hawke, daughter of Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman, and both are ‘supervised” by “family elders” Lena Dunham and Dakota Fanning, pure dead-eyed evil as ‘Squeaky’ Fromme (not to mention the always wonderful Bruce Dern as another member of the “group”).

As mentioned earlier, this flick comes four years after Tarantino’s last one, THE HATEFUL EIGHT. I’m most happy to report that it is well worth the wait. This is his love letter to that crazy time when the torch was passed from the “old” Hollywoods moguls to the wild young rebels, and QT’s passion burns through nearly every frame. Leaning into the fairytale-like title, he shows us a magical kingdom of both hopes and desperation, sweet dreams and dark nightmares. We’re taken back to a time where TV was the “ugly stepchild” of the celebrated motion picture. But Tarantino shows us the art and charm of both. He loves the “ground out” TV “oaters” as much as the action “potboilers’ and the studio showcases. His script takes us from hilarity (Cliff panics as Rick can’t suppress a sob in a parking lot) to nail-biting suspense (during one sequence I wanted to jump into the screen to tell a beloved character to “get outta’ Dodge”). Plus the time is recreated in unbelievable detail. Actual AM radio cues and commercials fill the car cruising scenes, while Hollywood Boulevard becomes a blazing neon Asgard, with Pitt as a golden-haired hero guiding a sleek motorized chariot. Nearly every shot includes a nod to the year, with bus stop benches tauting reruns of “I Spy” along with LA newscasters (George Putnam!), even an early version of Taco Bell. What was considered junk is filmed with love by Tarantino turning into glorious antiquities: issues of “digest-sized” TV Guides, grocery items, and those shimmering vintage autos (and a couple of new “phony” products join the QT staple along with Big Kahuna Burger and Red Apple Cigarettes). Sure, some of the scenes could uses a good trim, especially some long “Lancer” exchanges, and Tarantino indulges his love of history twisting (recall the ending of BASTERDS) and excessive, nearly cartoon violence, but that doesn’t take away from the whole immersive experience as we feel as though a time machine (or that era’s TV show “Time Tunnel”) has whisked us back to a simpler, though unpredictable and often dangerous time. I can hardly wait for the disc in order to savor the art direction secrets and delectable deleted scenes (some interesting actors are in the end credits with a “cut” next to their listings, so…). Quentin Tarantino’s ONCE UPON A TIME…IN HOLLYWOOD is one truly fantastic, fabulous film (and TV) fable. And the moviegoers all lived happily ever after…

4 Out of 4 Stars