Once Upon a Time in Hollywood review

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (OUTIH) isn’t on the top 1000 films of all time, but I recently watched it in cinemas and here’s the review.

Rick Dalton (Leonardo Dicaprio) is a Hollywood actor who’s afraid that his career is at an end.  Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) is his stunt double and driver.  Together they navigate the changing landscape of 1960’s Hollywood.  Meanwhile, Charles Manson and his cult machinate a plot to begin a race war by killing Roman Polanski (Raful Zavierachi) and his wife Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie.)

As well as directing this, Tarantino also directed Kill Bill.  My main criticism of that film was that it was more style than substance.  The same criticism applies here.  Rather than offering a strongly plotted narrative, Tarantino presents a mostly nostalgic vision of Hollywood and stretches it to its limit.

Where Kill Bill is a homage to martial arts films, OUTIH is a homage to 1960’s Hollywood.  It’s overly seasoned with gratuitous real-life allusions, from Dicaprio being digitally imposed into the Great Escape, to Brad Pitt fighting Bruce Lee (Mike Moh) to Steve Mcqueen (Damien lewis) appearing for 5 minutes to even the title: Once Upon a Time in Hollywood being a reference to Sergio Leone’s ‘Once Upon a Time in the West” and … “in America.” Of course, Leone is best known for his spaghetti westerns with westerns featuring heavily in this film.

However, all these references felt more like Tarantino patting himself on the back, showing off how much he knows about Hollywood, rather than actually doing anything for the plot.  The real narrative lay in the conflicted mind of Dalton – a washed-up movie actor trying to revive his career.  Dicaprio was great in this role.  He imported true humanity to Dalton and prevented him from becoming just another of many Hollywood has-beens.  The scene where he breaks down in his trailer is the best example of this.

What’s left of the plot focusses on Booth being mixed up in the Manson family.  Although this is more of a sub-plot that should have received more attention than it did, the outrageous ending notwithstanding.

Three of Manson’s cult go to kill Tate and Polanski.  Instead they decide to kill Dalton and Booth.  The plan goes wrong as all three are brutally killed in progressively over-the-top ways.  This stylisation of violence is quintessential Tarantino, but it does become silly at times.

And we need to take a moment to talk about feet again.  Tarantino is just trolling us at this point.  He knows that his foot fetish is common knowledge and doesn’t give a damn anymore.  From Margot Robbie’s feet at the forefront of the frame, to Margaret Qualley’s feet pressed right against the windscreen, it was all a bit much.

While the film has all of the classic Tarantino hallmarks, I fear it is another example of style over substance.  And I get it, Tarantino! You have a foot fetish.  You don’t need to remind me of it in every single movie.