It’s no secret that Quentin Tarantino has an almost obsessive affinity for nostalgia, especially as it pertains to genre movies and movie stars. So Once Upon a Time in Hollywood finds the filmmaker working squarely within his wheelhouse.
His glimpse into the evolving showbiz landscape of a half-century ago, intersecting with the gruesome Charles Manson murders, combines stellar performances with style and attitude to spare. Tarantino whips this affectionate tribute to a bygone era into a breezy and thrilling riff that’s mildly self-indulgent yet also refreshingly subversive.
Taking place in 1969, it follows Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio), an erstwhile star of a television Western whose career has now been reduced to commercials and guest roles, leaving him insecure about his talent and legacy. His longtime stuntman, Cliff (Brad Pitt), has remained loyal by turning into his driver and personal assistant while masking a violent temper and a family secret.
When Rick meets new Hollywood Hills neighbor Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie), the starlet wife of director Roman Polanski, he sees a possible avenue for career resurgence. But when Cliff is drawn into a visit to the Spahn Ranch, where he and Rick were regulars during their heyday, his suspicions after meeting Manson’s acolytes, who now reside there, entangle him in a spiral toward inevitable tragedy.
Tarantino’s vivid and immersive re-creation of the period includes a meticulous attention to late 1960s detail, from cars and fashion to obscure tracks on the curated soundtrack to even labels on cans of dog food. The conceptually ambitious project is so awash in rich visual texture that you can easily forgive its meandering narrative.
Benefiting from Tarantino’s atypical restraint and topping a remarkably deep ensemble cast, DiCaprio and Pitt each rise to the challenge. They bring depth and complexity to their bromance as bit players on the fringes of the changing Hollywood system — crossing paths with Bruce Lee one day and struggling to make ends meet the next.
After starting as only a tangential recap of the Manson cult, the film becomes more focused in the final hour, tying itself together with a gonzo revisionist climax that blurs fantasy and reality.
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is more fiction than fact, but clever enough to convince you most of it could have been true. After all, as the title suggests, it’s a folk tale, as told to classic Tinseltown aficionados by one of their own.
