Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood (2019) * * * *

 

Directed by:  Quentin Tarantino

Starring:  Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Margaret Qualley, Bruce Dern, Timothy Olymphant, Al Pacino, Kurt Russell, Damon Herriman, Lena Dunham, Mike Moh, Emile Hirsch, Damian Lewis, Dakota Fanning, Luke Perry, Nicholas Hammond, Julia Butters

If you judged by the number of names listed in the above actors' list, you would assume Once Upon a Time... was a classic with the proverbial cast of thousands.    Make no mistake, this movie belongs to two of them: DiCaprio and Pitt, who are in nearly every scene either together or individually.   The rest of the well-known names (and some legends like Pacino) are on board in memorable cameos, but writer-director Quentin Tarantino doesn't lose focus on the story of his fictional characters Rick Dalton (DiCaprio) and his best friend/stunt double/employee Cliff Booth (Pitt).

The project was first conceived as Tarantino's Charles Manson project, but Manson only appears in two brief scenes.    The story centers around Rick and Cliff as they try to maneuver their lives and careers as middle-aged men in a changing Hollywood.    Rick used to be the star of an early 1960's TV show and he is still recognizable by some as "the star of Bounty Law".   But in February 1969, Rick's acting gigs consist primarily of playing heavies in guest-starring roles on TV shows.    Cliff, as as a stuntman whose glory days went the way of the dodo when Rick's career started to cool off, finds he can't get work because of his worrisome reputation (you'll see what I mean).   On one occasion, Rick is able to convince a stunt coordinator (Russell) who doesn't much like Cliff to give him a shot as a standby double, and Cliff winds up fighting with Bruce Lee (Moh).   The fight doesn't unfold as you would expect, and it is one of the movie's funniest and best scenes.

How do Cliff and Rick tie in to Charles Manson?   Rick lives on Cielo Drive in the Hollywood Hills, and his new neighbors are Sharon Tate (Robbie) and Roman Polanski, which causes Rick to pine not for Sharon, but for the opportunity to meet them and perhaps be cast in Polanski's next movie.    ("I could be one pool party away from being in Polanski's next film,").  Cliff, meanwhile, lives in a dumpy trailer behind a drive-in movie theater where his dog eats better than he does.    Rick's new agent Marvin (Pacino), suggests Rick go to Italy to star in spaghetti westerns, which doesn't exactly please Rick, but hey they pay pretty well and it's steady work.   Tate is as sunny and wide-eyed as Rick is distraught and worried, and clearly their careers are on opposite trajectories. 

On one Sunday afternoon in Hollywood, Sharon watches her latest movie (starring Dean Martin) in a local theater and smiles all the way through, especially when the audience laughs along with her character's klutziness.    Across town, Rick is hard at work trying to perfect his guest role on a TV Western and beats himself up in his trailer when he flubs his lines.   He performs as if his career is on the line, while Tate basks in the glow of her up and coming career, which ended abruptly in the early morning hours of August 9, 1969, when she and four others were butchered in her home by Manson's followers.

Speaking of Manson, Cliff has more direct contact with the Manson clan when he picks up a hitchhiker (Qualley), who leads him to Spahn's Ranch, which back in the day was a studio set where Rick and Cliff shot Bounty Law.   The vibe is quite different now, as Manson's cult has overtaken control of the place from poor, blind George Spahn (Dern), who is more or less held hostage.   The tension in these critical scenes is well-crafted, with the payoff even more satisfying.   Cliff proves he is not one to be trifled with, even when surrounded by potentially homicidal cultists.

Tarantino, who was seven years old in 1969, establishes the era so vividly that we feel we've taken a time machine back to that fateful year.   From the radio ads to the TV ads to the billboards to the decor of the homes, offices, and bars, to the cars on the freeway, and to the clothes worn by the people, Once Upon a Time... looks and feels authentically like 1969 Hollywood, with the ever-present pall of Charles Manson hanging over everything.    Rick, Cliff, and Sharon all have a date with destiny, and it's sheer joy watching the events intertwine, unfold, and pay off.

At a running time of 2 hours, 40 minutes, Once Upon a Time... could've shaved twenty minutes.   It would be un-Tarantino-like not to indulge at least a little excess, but for the most part, Tarantino is at his most focused here.   His gleeful passion for the story and the era is evident, as if the child in him is getting a second chance to relive his youth.    You can almost forgive him for not wanting to pare down. 

Tarantino, with Inglourious Basterds and Django Unchained, inserted fictional characters into real events.   Both films altered history and gave the victims a chance to stick it to their tormentors.   Once Upon a Time... throws Rick and Cliff, who have enough baggage of their own to contend with, headlong into a collision with the Manson followers sent to kill Sharon Tate and whoever else had the unfortunate fate to be at the address on Cielo Drive on that August night in 1969.    Once Upon a Time isn't just another angle on which to hang a retelling of the Sharon Tate murders.   It has plenty to say about the Hollywood movie making of the time.    Eight-month long movie runs in single, independently owned theaters (in the infancy of the multiplex) just don't happen anymore, not with streaming, cable, and Blu-Ray around in full force.   Avengers: Endgame is now the highest-grossing movie ever only three months into its theatrical run, and within a month may not be in any theaters altogether.    I recall when E.T. usurped Star Wars as the all-time box office champ in 1982, it took nearly one year to accomplish the feat.   Movies were allowed to build audiences then.   Now, if a movie isn't in the top two in its first week, it is left for dead.

DiCaprio gives one of his best performances as the anxiety-ridden, chain smoking, whiskey guzzling Rick.   He is as tense as Pitt is laconic and laid-back, (although don't try to mess with him, as a few characters make the mistake of doing).   Their smooth chemistry suggests a long friendship, with each man knowing his role and staying in his lane.   Each has the other's back, and their loyalty to each other is touching.   We suspect their friendship will endure even if Rick's work dries up amidst the shift in Hollywood's thinking.   Both actors are wonderful, but I'd give the slight edge to Pitt as far as which character is more effective, mostly because Pitt is present in the movie's three best scenes, and gives each humor and a certain quiet macho toughness.

Once Upon a Time... is Tarantino under control and mostly lacking in unnecessary self-indulgence. 
It is refreshing to see the influential writer and director so focused on a period in history which deeply affected him.   The final scenes are violent and bloody, yes, and that is to be expected when dealing with Manson followers, but not so much that they cross the line into self-parody.   And QT manages to throw in a few satisfying surprises as well, ones which add poignancy to the final shots as the credits roll.