mm’s review published on Letterboxd:
Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood
After a career spent speeding down the 405, Tarantino’s penultimate (?) film is a relaxed Sunday cruise down Sunset Boulevard.
Hollywood is jarring at first sure, but finding Tarantino in such a pensive, wistful and nostalgic mood as he thinks back on his youth is, in retrospect, the only way to tell this story.
Tarantino’s devotion to the movies shines through more than ever before (the Basterds ending a close second) as he succeeds in putting you right in the thick of a normal day in Hollywood. His goal wasn’t explicitly to entertain, shock, or scare. It was to make us feel how he felt.
So for perhaps the first time, the 3rd act powder keg explosion feels more real than in films past. What comes before is what Tarantino remembers his childhood to be like, and that last bit is him coming to terms with the ugliness in the world, something I imagine a lot of people his age experienced with the Manson family.
As for the acting; this is some of the best work DiCaprio and Pitt have ever put in. Pitt seems to be getting a lion’s share of the praise and while that’s certainly well deserved, I think DiCaprio is giving his most layered performance *ever* here. In my alternate history, this wins him his 4th Oscar (Aviator, Wolf of Wall Street, Django in case you were wondering).
And after listening to a lot of different views on the matter, I really have no problem with how Sharon Tate was handled. Instead of being a plot machination, she’s just allowed to be. It may not make for a better movie, but it does offer a touching tribute to a life tragically cut short.
Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood is possibly the most crucial entry into Tarantino's filmography, and I can already feel it growing on all of us over time.
This is one of Tarantino’s best. Let’s pray it won’t be his last.
Grade: 9/10
P.S. I had the chance to see this in 70mm film and WOW. Digital projection ain’t SHIT compared to this. Do yourself a favor and take a road trip if you’re within a few hours of a theater showing it in that format. It’s 100% worth it.
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