The music is period appropriate, and there were a few tunes I caught myself bobbing my head to in the theater. But the soundtrack wasn’t anything to sing home about, especially when we compare it to the Oscar winning soundtrack of Tarantino’s previous film The Hateful Eight.
There’s a different kind of sound I want to talk about though, as the ones that did impress me were actually the emphasizing on normal, seemingly mundane sounds which when focused on made the film so much more lively.
Dog food plopping into a bowl. The eager dog’s tail chaffing against the fabric of a chair.
The exaggerated sippings of a margarita.
Letting the music breath from the record or the radio player.
It was these small, isolated moments that allowed me to hear the movie’s heartbeat.
Score: +2
Visuals
At 2 hours and 41 minutes long, Once Upon A Time feels much more like a dog walk at night than a sprint down the block.
But what this film lacks in speed it makes up for in immersion, as there is an impressive bounty of tracking shots and one-take scenes impressively woven throughout the film.
The film isn’t heavily edited, and most of the cuts are to referential material for the film, such as historical movie scenes or original scenes stylized to fit the time period or support the narrative.
The level of immersion for this film can not be understated. The same audio emphasis was paired up with visual focus to make certain moments pop, and/or simmer.
Score: +2
Acting and Casting
The Leonardo DiCaprio Show
DiCaprio is a blast to watch in this film, and not a drop of talent is wasted as the star.
Leo’s character, Rick Dalton, has such an impressive range, especially since the character’s role is an actor who does occasionally switch between being “himself” and acting fluidly. Dalton breaks down and builds himself back up right before your eyes.
Tarantino has also admitted that Dalton is affected from an un-diagnosed bi-polar disorder, and this is just more evidence for the case on why you should not miss Leo’s acting in this one.
Driving the last nail on the head, Brad Pitt, a Hollywood Heavyweight himself, is the supporting actor in this film!
Even after all these years, these two old dogs are still the hottest in Hollywood; physically too in Brad’s case, as he’s also spotted without a t-shirt in one scene.
If there is to be a weak link in this massive All-Star cast, it’s with Mikey Madison’s character. I know, love, and am slightly annoyed by her from Better Things, and I suspect Tarantino did scout her out for her charismatic but also slightly chalkboard-scratching persona.
In the moment, her over-the-top style did throw me off, but in hindsight, I suppose it is excellent casting for the role she does play, and makes perfect sense in the grand scheme of things.
Score: +2
Writing
Tarantino just does what he wants. But it’s never reckless abandon. It’s just…expertly quirky.
The film accomplishes much more as a slice-of-life than it does for dramatic narrative, and critics will likely gnaw at the film’s heel for this design feature.
A nearly three-hour film without a strong narrative direction can seem bloated, but such a loose story structure provided us so much intimacy with the characters, and by the end of the film this direction may also make perfect sense in the larger context.
I can’t say that there is much character development at all. Instead, I would describe it as small glimpses, previews, of what the characters are capable of, and the film allowing the characters to execute on that potential. I personally found this satisfying.
The film’s length may be attributed to the fact that the scenes Dalton plays as an actor are given the same priority as the scenes about Dalton “off-screen”.
Because the film clearly sacrificed a coherent story arc, I can’t give a full two points here, but by God does it double down on its characters to make up for it. I can’t describe it any more than just the feeling that you could reach out and touch them.
Score: +1
Imagination and Intrigue
Rick Dalton and Cliff Booth are fictional characters, and I suspect the reason why the film did forsake an overarching theme for the characters is because the film is actually loosely based on Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie) and her unfortunate association with the Manson Family.
Tarantino, I suppose, knowing the story had just one place it was obligated to be freed up Once Upon a Time’s storytelling to take absolutely any route it wanted to get there.
Tarantino clearly did, as the film feels like him returning to the sandbox, showing off all of his early film, music, and television influences in tribute and throwback scenes.
However, an homage isn’t really a home-brew, so I can’t offer too many points in this category.
But in no way does the film ever feel gimmicky. It’s still an original concept, and instead of the film being a fictional biopic about Rick Dalton and his trusty sidekick Cliff Booth, it really feels like a merging between worlds; that is the world of being on set and at the movies, and the other world of Hollywood Hills and beyond.
Score: +1
Final Rating
Adding up all the scores above will net the movie a 7/10 …
Despite all the fun I had, a film usually doesn’t get an 8 or above score if it doesn’t have re-watch value, and there’s just far too much fluff to get through for the memorable moments I would want to catch again.
But that’s if you were going to watch it at home in a few months.
The film gets an emphatic jolt up to a 9 if you see it in theaters, as the film’s climax absolutely must be shared with strangers. Moments like this add to the experience, not to mention that there’s also a scene in the film of a character going to a theater.
Once Upon A Time … in Hollywood is, at its core, a movie about movies, and it is so great of a movie theater experience that if I were Tarantino, I wouldn’t ever release it on any other platform, especially since he even gave viewers at his New Beverly Cinema an upgraded experience.
I must mention the film’s ability for immersion once again, as watching Once Upon A Time…in Hollywood at the theater made me feel like I was at an interstellar drive-in, or a portal to another dimension, or time machine? Basically, for those three hours, nothing else mattered but watching this movie.
See it during the day time. And don’t smoke cigarettes!
