Once Upon a Time in Hollywood: Tarantino Redeems the Innocence of His Childhood

comedy, drama

2:41

2019

Review by Brandon Talks Movies on Sep 09, 2019

It’s official, old buddy. I’m a has-been.

Every filmmaker was inspired by something. Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction, Inglourious Basterds) has stated that his favorite film is the 60s spaghetti Western The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, by iconic director Sergio Leone, and Leone’s influence can be seen in many of Tarantino’s films. In the 60s, Leone’s new style of Italian Westerns was a departure from the classic American Westerns Tarantino had grown up with, and in many ways signaled a change in filmmaking, away from the wholesome images of the 50s and the first part of the 60s, getting ready for the gritty realism of the 70s. Tarantino’s newest film, Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood touches on that while also being a love letter to the Hollywood from Tarantino’s formative years. Tarantino has said that this is his most personal film, and you can see the care who poured into this project. I loved the film, and think it’s a great addition to his repertoire of work.

The plot follows Rick Dalton, an old Western star struggling to remain relevant in the changing 60s, and his stunt double and close friend Cliff Booth, a man with some skeletons in his closet, as well as a wealth of confidence and a need for money. Rick employs Cliff as his personal assistant, so Cliff’s career is dependent on Rick’s. The real-life Hollywood of 1969 is the backdrop here, including both setting and some characters. And Charles Manson’s famous murder-cult also makes an appearance. There’s a lot going on with this film, so it’s hard to sum up the plot as succinctly as many of the other films that I review. That’s one of the things I loved about it.

Well… the fuckin’ hippies aren’t. That’s for goddamn sure.

Real-life stars and other celebrities are characters in this film, with Steve McQueen making a brief appearance and Charles Manson being a driving force as well, even if he’s not really in the film himself. In fact, Rick Dalton lives right next to the famous director Roman Polanski and his new wife, Sharon Tate. I’m somewhat ashamed to admit this, but I didn’t know who Sharon Tate was until my wife explained it to me after the movie. Sharon Tate was a rising star with a few films to her name, but what she’s most remembered for is being the most famous of Charles Manson’s murders. The real-life murder of Sharon Tate took place in 1969—the same year this film takes place. And you can bet that Rick Dalton living right next to her makes that significant in this film. I won’t give away the ending, but knowing that bit of history beforehand adds a lot of depth to this film.

It’s impressive how far Tarantino went in recreating this world of the 60s. In a very rare move, a portion of a freeway in Los Angeles was completely shut down and filled with 60s-era cars for a few shots. Scenes from The Great Escape were recreated with Rick Dalton as the star. Rick Dalton, former Western star, is extremely skeptical of the new Italian spaghetti Westerns, initially thinking of starring in them as a death sentence—doubly funny because of Tarantino’s own affinity for Italian Westerns, with this film’s name being an obvious nod to Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in the West. Tarantino really put the effort in not just to recreate the 60s, but to recreate his childhood, and that loving touch shows in the small details that pop up.

This is a Tarantino film, but for most of the movie, I forgot that. Don’t get me wrong—I love Tarantino—but the name certainly has a connotation of sharp dialogue, stylized violence, and dangerous characters. Those things do show up at the end of this film, but most of it is more moving drama than stylized action made for a niche audience. There are scenes that are utterly hilarious, such as a very memorable scene with Bruce Lee, but there are also heart-wrenching scenes of an aging actor dealing with his own loss of relevance in a changing world, and Tarantino does both exceedingly well, showing his range as a filmmaker is far greater than many would give him credit for. The scenes showing the friendship between Booth and Dalton are as heartwarming as many of the heavy-hitting drama films out there, and yet the film still makes excellent use of a flamethrower. How many other films can claim that?

Should I Watch Once Upon a Time in Hollywood?

Overall, I loved this film, and I think it’s probably the most accessible of Tarantino’s impressive body of work. Tarantino borrowed from his hero Sergio Leone’s slow-moving, tense without words style, and that can cause a few of the scenes to take a long time to play out, but that just adds to the beauty of the film. As someone who loves the classic films of the 50s and 60s, I also enjoyed seeing Tarantino’s love letter to 60s-era Hollywood. Tarantino poured a lot of himself into this film—more so than any of his other films—and the passion makes this film something truly extraordinary.

Movies Like Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Django Unchained (2012) - Tarantino had a knack for history-bending revenge stories, and this is another one, focusing on a dark time in American history: the Antebellum South. An escaped slave teams up with a European abolitionist to take revenge on a vile slave-owner. The film is brutal, even for a Tarantino film, but the revenge at the end is extremely gratifying.
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) - This Western film signals the end of the era for classic Westerns, showing us two outlaws struggling to survive in a changing world. While the film itself is not a nostalgic look at old Hollywood, it’s a meta reference to the classic Western genre—a fond farewell, as well as a great Western itself. A film like this could have been the last great Western Rick Dalton would star in.
Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) - With Sergio Leone being such a huge influence on Tarantino and the name being an obvious reference, and with Leone’s Westerns being referenced in the film by Dalton himself, Once Upon a Time in the West is a great companion piece for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. It’s also a damn good Western, in Leone’s trademark style that broke the mold for the classic Western formula.

Academy Awards

Winner: Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role (Brad Pitt), Best Achievement in Production Design (Barbara Ling, Nancy Haigh)

Nominee: Best Motion Picture of the Year (David Heyman, Shannon McIntosh, Quentin Tarantino), Best Achievement in Directing (Quentin Tarantino), Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role (Leonardo DiCaprio), Best Original Screenplay (Quentin Tarantino), Best Achievement in Cinematography (Robert Richardson), Best Achievement in Costume Design (Arianne Phillips), Best Achievement in Sound Mixing (Michael Minkler, Christian P. Minkler, Mark Ulano), Best Achievement in Sound Editing (Wylie Stateman)

Runtime: 2:41
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Year: 2019
Genres: comedy, drama
Rating: R

About Brandon

My name is Brandon, and I love movies. Not bad ones, though—just the good ones. I’m curating and reviewing a list of classic, essential-viewing, or just plain good movies from all decades, and I've been reviewing them since 2016. I also co-host Peculiar Picture Show, a podcast about movies and mental health and write about Dungeons & Dragons options, builds, and optimization.