On Friday, July 26, Quentin Tarantino dropped his 9th film Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood. The movie is a period piece taking place in 1969 in Hollywood and follows a declining actor, Rick Dalton, and his friend/stunt double Cliff Booth. Rick is trying to get his career back on track by hopefully meeting his neighbor Roman Polanski.
The movie was very different from any other Tarantino production to date. Most of Tarantino’s films jump around the timeline with many scenes being out of canonical order. Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood, progressed as time passed. The other big trope Tarantino is known for is his violent scenes and this movie only had one near the climax of the film. Lastly, his use of language was toned down in this movie too, he still used slurs and curses but it is not on the same level of his previous works like Pulp Fiction or Django Unchained.
The two leading actors, Leonardo DiCaprio as Dalton, and Brad Pitt as Booth, showed great chemistry on the screen. The two worked very well together and fed off each other nicely. Dare I say that they may even rival the synergy of Samuel Jackson and John Travolta from Pulp Fiction. A great example of DiCaprio and Pitt’s chemistry can easily be seen in the scene where Dalton can no longer pay Booth for his help and the two hit the town together for one last good time.
Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood is one of the writer/directors best works. It shows off that Tarantino can use misdirection, suspense, character development, and storytelling in multiple different ways and that he does not need to rely on what “he is known for” to make a great film. The ending of this movie was great and unexpected. There is no doubt that I will be giving the film at least one other viewing.
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