MOVIE: Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

QUENTEN Tarrantino films can be long. ‘The Hateful Eight’ was almost three hours in duration, ‘Django Unchained’ the same, with his latest effort, ‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’, coming in at a hefty two hours and 40 minutes. 

His films could, of course, also be measured in feet. Not distance you understand, but the amount of times that we get a close up of an actor’s trotters. It’s a lot, but the less said about that the better. 

Like many of Tarantino’s films, and this is number nine, there is a lot going on, so it can be difficult to summarise. 

But basically what we have here is a slice of Hollywood life in the year 1969, as seen through the eyes of fictional actor Rick Dalton and his stunt double sidekick Cliff Booth. 

Playing as a backdrop to this story are the real life events of actress Sharon Tate (who in this film lives next door to Dalton) and her ultimate murder at the hands of the infamous Charles Manson gang.

As with all Tarantino films and perhaps more so here, the reason they are so drawn out is the tremendous detail captured in every shot. 

One scene for example where Cliff (played by Brad Pitt) is shown feeding his dog would probably be cut, or certainly cut in half by any other filmmaker, but in the hands of Tarantino it turns into something fascinating, clever and amusing. 

This is definitely a movie made by a lover of film for those who share the same feelings. Others may lose interest half way through when we get sidetracked somewhat by life on the film back lot with Rick (played by Leonardo di Caprio), but again, the director packs so much detail and humour into each scene that most audiences will gladly follow where he takes us. 

With two wonderful lead performances, and a bonkers ending that will have you screaming and laughing at the same time, this is a masterful, unique and thoroughly enjoyable offering that we award a review score of four Hollywood stars.   

Paul O’Rourke