'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood' Slowly Builds Up to an Awesome Climax

Quentin Tarantino’s films are must-watch fares.  And after four years (around the standard period between his movies’ release dates) of waiting since the last one, we finally get in 2019 another new Tarantino film – his ninth (for, apparently, Kill Bill, which was separated into two parts, only counts as one movie) – to enjoy.

Titled Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, it’s set in 1969 Los Angeles – particularly, the moment in history wherein Sharon Tate and her guests were horrifically murdered by members of the infamous Manson Family cult.  However, although Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie) is a character in this movie, the film centers on best friends Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) – a veteran Hollywood actor who peaked in the 1950’s when he played the lead role in a Western TV series called Bounty Law, and who now fears he’s at the point of his career where he’s about to become washed up – and Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) – a war veteran who was Rick’s regular stunt double, but is now working more often as Rick’s driver and handyman than being a stuntman.

There’s some truth in saying that this film is “plotless” – or, at least, has no conventional plotting.  As you watch this film, it seems to be just a collection of random events happening.  There are several scenes that entertainingly stand on their own, but you may feel that they aren’t cohesively forming a proper story.  Scenes can feel pointless and random at times.  However, these all pay off in the end.

The runtime is 161 minutes, and in the first two hours and 20 minutes, it may feel like nothing really happened.  Yes, nuggets can be found here and there, but up to that point, the film doesn’t quite make an impression of being something special.  But the final 20 or so minutes prove to be the mother lode, and what happens in that span makes every single second leading toward that moment totally worth it.  That climax is sheer awesomeness.  It’s cathartic, brilliant, and exhilarating.  In my honest opinion, it’s only second to Avengers: Endgame’s as the year’s most exciting movie climax.  And while it’s happening, everything just clicks in your head.  Those previous scenes that seemed to have no purpose finally make sense.  The entire film has been properly building up to that awesome climax all along.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is like a long-winded, elaborate joke that has a punchline that will blow your mind and leave you gasping for air from laughing so much.

On top of that, the film is also a love letter to the tail end of the so-called Golden Age of Hollywood.  As a cinema scholar and devotee, Tarantino has been known to incorporate into his films various homage to genres, classic films, and filmmaking techniques.  You always get a sense in his movies that he’s a cinema fan first and foremost before a filmmaker.  And I feel that this trait is most apparent here in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood – especially his love for the glamorous side of the culture, lifestyle, and history of Tinseltown.

The cast is splendid.  Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt are so fun to watch in this movie.  As usual of actors their caliber, they were effortless in making their respective characters burst with appeal and personality.  They have tremendous chemistry together, and their characters’ friendship is genuinely touching.  Meanwhile, Margot Robbie is fine as Sharon Tate.  She had plenty of screen time, but she didn’t really do anything of worth as a character.  But (SPOILER) this is obviously intentional as her character’s purpose – accompanied by the audience’s knowledge of the real-life person – is to simply be a red herring in service of that aforementioned awesome climax.  Moreover, child actress Julia Butters was pretty amazing in the short time she was in the movie.

I didn’t find anything to dislike about this movie.  But I have some nitpicks.  First, why didn’t they digitally insert Margot Robbie in the footage of The Wrecking Crew?  Didn’t they do that technique with Leonardo DiCaprio’s character?  Why not for Robbie?  Instead, the footage shown had the real-life Sharon Tate in it.  Kinda weird.  Second, I wish the movie threw shade at that creep Roman Polanski.  Instead, Polanski is somewhat portrayed positively in this movie – (SPOILER) a revered figure whose favor Rick had to somehow win in order to revitalize his career, which will solve his financial bind, and by extension, Cliff’s (the ending implied that Rick would).  By not demonizing or at least ridiculing Polanski a bit in this movie, Tarantino didn’t do himself any favor at all, considering the fact that he defended Polanski in the past and used to pal with Harvey Weinstein.  Nonetheless, as I’ve said, these are just nitpicks.  They have no effect to my total enjoyment of the film.

In the end, I love Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.  It has terrific direction, acting, screenplay, cinematography, and production value.  It’s utterly unique, hilarious, smart, elating, and – strangely – heartwarming.  It’s an easy shoo-in for my top 20 movies of 2019.