The Current Cinema: Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (2019)
Directed by Quentin Tarantino. Starring Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio, Margot Robbie, Emile Hirsch, Dakota Fanning, Bruce Dern, Luke Perry, Al Pacino, Nicholas Hammond. Released July 26, 2019. Running time: 161 minutes.
While there is more than one school of thought regarding the work of Quentin Tarantino, his approach to cinema, based on a myriad of diverse influences, has redefined the medium. His method of filling the negative space in each frame with color or movement, his use of sound and a soundtrack, his gathering of "old familiar faces" and casting them against type, and his sharp, witty dialog are all staples of his work. His first two films, "Reservoir Dogs" and "Pulp Fiction" are now over a quarter century old and have achieved classic status. Perhaps it is too early to claim "Once Upon a Time in...Hollywood" to be Tarantino's masterpiece because he hasn't finished making movies. But we can claim it to be his best work thus far.
Recreating 1969 Los Angeles with uncanny detail (the only trifling quibble being the inclusion of Joe Cocker's 1970 version of "The Letter" blaring from the radio), Tarantino reinvents the saga of The Manson Family and Sharon Tate's grisly murder as a fiction fantasy that concludes in a brutal and satisfying manner. Leonardo DiCaprio is a has-been actor who had once been the star of a western TV series, but is now struggling to remain of interest. Brad Pitt is his stunt double with a sordid past. Their friendship and working relationship is central to the story. Both are fictional characters and their connection to the Manson family is purely tangential. Most of the film's running time is one long, compelling setup. We realize how the Manson-Tate murders went down, and we expect that is how the movie will ultimately conclude. So when Tarantino spends so much time on these two fictional characters separate from that inevitability, we let him do so. We follow along with their story as the director carefully paces the narrative and allows his film to breathe.
Leonardo DiCaprio turns in the finest performance of his career, completely losing himself inside the character he plays. We understand his disillusionment, we feel his anger and frustration, and when a little girl acts opposite him and tells him his performance is the finest acting she has ever seen, we cry with him. Brad Pitt, with playful hunky aplomb, is the consistent friend, emotional support; the DiCaprio character's stunt man on screen and in life. He has found his niche, and wallows in it with complete comfort. Unflappable in every situation, any heroics are completely within the realm of his very being.
Margot Robbie as Sharon Tate is a beautiful, distracting presence. Exuding all of the enthusiasm of someone who loves where she is and what she's doing, Robbie is at her best when going to the theater to watch her latest movie ("The Wrecking Crew" with Dean Martin) and gleefully responding to the audience laughing at her comic pratfalls and applauding her scenes. Using every second of her limited screen time, Robbie's presence permeates the entire film just as the role she is playing is important to the production. She all but steals the film from its prominent cast.
Al Pacino manages to play perfectly understated bluster as the agent who convinces DiCaprio that his next career move should be spaghetti westerns. Bruce Dern's grizzled, cantankerous take on George Spahn is commendable, but one longs for what the originally cast Burt Reynolds might have done with the role (Burt died before production began). And it is certainly bittersweet to see Luke Perry in what will be his final performance.
For those of us old enough to remember 1969 -- the music, the culture, the look, and the feel of the era -- Tarantino's re-creation is remarkable. The blaring radio of songs and ad jingles, the cars, the fashions, the buildings, the language -- it's all there. And it isn't sentimental nostalgia, it is the backdrop for a story that has remained chilling over 50 years. But Tarantino recreates that too, and offers a far more satisfying conclusion. Any more specific spoilers will be avoided.
Barreling along for nearly 3 hours and never losing interest, never dragging, remaining compelling with a pace that is serious, funny, uplifting, and emotionally draining, "Once Upon a Time in ... Hollywood" is an example of truly great filmmaking that offers the best of what contemporary cinema is capable of producing.