"Better a fallen rocket than never a burst of light."
~ Tom Stoppard, The Invention of Love

Wednesday, January 29, 2020

Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood (2019, R)


I debated seeing this one. I generally like Quentin Tarantino’s movies and I like most of the actors in it, but the Bruce Lee stuff from the trailers, and the subsequent discourse about it after the movie came out, turned me off. While I, for the most part, like the rest of the film, “that scene” is every bit as uncomfortable as I heard it was (more on that later.) Premise spoilers.

Fading star Rick Dalton is anxious to keep his profile up in 1960s Hollywood. He’s been downgraded from starring in movies to starring in TV shows to, now, guest-starring in other people’s TV shows. While Rick tries to decide whether he should keep wrestling with Hollywood or take an offer to make spaghetti westerns in Italy, his stunt man/driver/handy-man Cliff gets tangled up in more than he bargained for when he meets a beautiful young hippie in need of a ride.

The second half of that summary doesn’t quite capture things. If you know anything about the movie, you know it also involves Sharon Tate and Charles Manson, but the different parts of the story don’t slide together very well. Although both sides of the film are compelling, they feel like two different movies for the most part, and even using the Manson cult as connective tissue between them, their relevance to one another feels negligible. For me personally, I think I would’ve rather seen a movie about Rick and Cliff or a movie about Sharon Tate, not both in the same story, at least as it is.

But again, looking at each part of the story separately, it’s all very well done. Rick’s fears of falling out of relevance are familiar to any story about a Hollywood star who’s not as famous as they used to be (hello, BoJack Horseman!), but it’s still crafted superbly. The scenes of him acting, desperately trying to hold it together and not blow whatever opportunities he can scrape by, are especially good. I also really like the sprinkling of scenes involving Sharon Tate, particularly the scenes of her watching herself in a movie. Meanwhile, Cliff’s scenes at Spahn’s Movie Ranch maintain a great sense of atmosphere and eeriness.

Of course, there are plenty of familiar faces in the cast. In small roles, we get Kurt Russell, Dakota Fanning, Bruce Dern, Al Pacino, Emile Hirsch, the late Luke Perry, and Lena Dunham, plus Maya Hawke (less big-name, but I really enjoyed her as Robin on the latest season of Stranger Things.) Really, though, the movie belongs to Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt as Rick and Cliff, and small sections of it belong to Margot Robbie as Sharon Tate. If I was going to pick a standout of the three, I’d probably go with Robbie. Even though the role isn’t very big and doesn’t demand that much of her, she plays it with so much spirit and warmth that I couldn’t help but be drawn in by it.

This one wracked up quite a few nominations. Best Picture, Director and Original Screenplay (both for Tarantino,) Best Supporting Actor for Brad Pitt, Cinematography, Costume and Production Design, and Sound Editing and Mixing, 10 in all. I have to say, having seen the film, I’m a little disappointed that Brad Pitt seems to be the designated frontrunner for his race. Not because I don’t like Brad Pitt – I’ve liked him for a long time – or because he isn’t good here, because he is. But like with Robbie and Sharon Tate, it feels like a part that doesn’t ask much from him, and I probably wouldn’t have taken special notice of his performance if I hadn’t already known he was up for an Oscar.

Before I go, I have to bring up a few more things. Tarantino is one of those directors whose work it’s easier to like when you don’t know much about how he behaves, and Emile Hirsch, who has a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it appearance as Charles Manson, was convicted of violently assaulting a film executive at a party in 2015. And the Bruce Lee scene in this movie is so gross. I read a lot of the conversation around it when the movie came out, including the interview that Lee’s daughter gave on the subject, and seeing it in the movie is super uncomfortable to watch.

Warnings

Graphic violence, sexual references, drinking/smoking/drug use, and strong thematic elements.

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