Once Upon A Time In Hollywood

On August 8th 1969, under the direction of cult leader Charles Manson, Tex Watson, Susan Atkins and Patricia Krenwinkel broke into 10050 Cielo Drive in Los Angeles and murdered it's inhabitants including the very pregnant actor Sharon Tate. The cult leader was angered at Terry Melcher, a music producer who had previously owned the house and wanted revenge. Sadly that revenge was taken against whoever happened to be in the house at the time. Well that's one version of the story anyway......

February 1969. Fading actor Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) is having an existential crisis. Work is drying up and his only shot at redemption is to leave Hollywood and make spaghetti westerns in Italy. He's distraught but his driver/stunt double/only friend Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) sees it as a fresh start. As Rick's star is falling his next door neighbour's, Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie), is on the rise. Sharon, a fresh faced ingénue is having the time of her life as the doors to all Hollywood has to offer open before her. Both of them have other neighbours too, the residents of the Spahn ranch in the Hollywood hills, a group of young cult members with bad things on their minds.

There's no denying this is a Tarantino film. A ridiculous running time, cameos left, right and centre, bare feet literally everywhere and the violence, when it eventually comes is both gratuitously OTT and hideous. It has a terribly baggy midsection where Tarantino lets loose with his worst directorial impulses and he makes absolutely no concession for younger viewers who may not know much about this particularly dark period in movieland history. But when Once Upon A Time In Hollywood hits it's mark it does so in a way that will make you forget about all the things it has done wrong. The first appearance of a cinematic legend who died way too young is magnificent because it's a moment that both humanizes a legend while puncturing the myth around him and it gives us one of the biggest belly laughs of the year. Al Pacino turns up in rare and lovable form and reminds us all why we've all enjoyed him for so long. An ethereal Margot Robbie brings Sharon Tate to life in such a glorious way that it makes her every appearance throb with impending doom. Then we get the star pairing that's going to make this a hit. DiCaprio and Pitt. 2 A-list megastars. They go together like a Royale with cheese and chips.

In 1993 Brad Pitt stole the show in True Romance as a very very stoned young man lying on a couch in True Romance. 26 years later and in his 3rd collaboration with Quentin Tarantino he does it again and this time he's an actor who's far more comfortable in his own skin. As good as DiCaprio is it's Pitt that gets all the fun stuff. The backlot sparring session that shows us what he's made of, a visit to a desert home that turns sinister very quickly and a drug trip that changes the course of history. He has a ball in the part but he's no nice guy. Like most of Tarantino's characters he's all sorts of shades of grey. Pitt gets the fun stuff but DiCaprio gets the meat of the story as a man who knows his best work is behind him (QT commenting on himself?). He's superb as always but it's his plotline where the film stutters. The wider world is forgotten as the film lays back to watch him work. It's fun but it gets flabby fast and you get the sense that this is Tarantino's overlong love letter to the TV age he grew up with. He's having fun with it but we certainly aren't.

A lot has been made of Margot Robbie's lack of dialogue as Sharon Tate. It's true, there's no denying she doesn't get much to do but her presence hangs heavy over everything and a scene of her in a cinema and her smile lighting up the screen is one of the most lovely and heartfelt moments in all of QT's movies. Going into this film knowing her story makes you fearful for her everytime she appears and Robbie, with only a few lines does a mighty job of making her seem like the girl next door even though she's on the edge of stardom. Everyone is on form in fairness. Bruce Dern's pathetic turn as George Spahn. An almost unrecognisable Dakota Fanning as the infamous Squeaky Fromme. Mike Moh's uncanny Bruce Lee (at least until he takes off his glasses) and numerous other familiar faces from QT's back catalogue turn up to give this universe a lived in feel.

It's a film that could quite easily lose half an hour but the good here way outweighs the bad. The cheeky slotting of Dalton into one of cinema's most loved movies. A chekhov's gun that pays off in an extremely satisfying way. That tin of dog food. Kurt Russell's withering look of disappointment. Those fantastically soundtracked drives through LA that will make you want to visit the place straight away. The film's immaculately portrayed look at 1969 Hollywood. The year it all went to fuck. The year the dark underbelly of La-La Land pushed through to the surface.

Go see it. But do a little research first. It will make your viewing experience so much better.