Bona Film Group, Heyday Films, Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE),
Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Emile Hirsch, Margaret Qualley, Timothy Olyphant, Julia Butters, Austin Butler, Dakota Fanning, Bruce Dern, Mike Moh, Luke Perry, Damian Lewis, Al Pacino
Once Upon a Time … In Hollywood is a fictional tale of life in the movie industry quite a few decades ago back in 1969 in the days of the Beach Boys and TV Westerns, filled with lots of period music and tons of nostalgia. It’s based on a fading ex-TV star, Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his boy Friday part time stunt double Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) and their adventures trying to stay relevant long after Rick’s TV career is long over and he’s trying to do small spots in other TV shows since his film career hasn’t taken off. Accidentally the two of them get mixed up with a group led by Charlie Manson and things spiral out of control as things go really haywire really quickly!
Quentin Tarantino obviously wrote this film (and it’s a long one, close to three hours in total) and directed it, because no one else could possibly have done it. It’s extremely funny. Folks have long awaited for Leo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt to work together, and they are in nearly every scene of this movie, since both have them have appeared in Tarantino films, but never together. These two are so absolutely hysterical together, they are the best duo since Martin and Lewis or Laurel and Hardy! They are so hysterical together and play off one another perfectly. It’s really genius. Now don’t expect a historical biography of the Manson Family either, as they are just a side story (although an extremely important part of the film) and this is much more of a “how it could have been” type of story, rather than “what really happened”. The ending will definitely blow you away! It’s certainly a total fairy tale, but yet so much of it is actual fact of the times, and many of the characters and locations are absolutely real. Living in LA for the last 35 years, it was really amazing to me to see the places we see every day look like we were right in the middle of 1969. I can see how Simi valley where the Spahn Ranch is located hasn’t changed much, but making Hollywood appear like it was 1969 was also pure genius and very well done. I really enjoyed every second of this movie and really felt is was too short. I never wanted this to end. Now be aware that this is a Quentin Tarantino film, so it’s going to have EXTREME violent scenes and very bad language, so this is not a kids film by any means, but if you can handle the likes of Pulp Fiction or Kill Bill I and II, you’re going to love this film. I have to say I enjoyed this film more than any movie I’ve seen in the last 20 years, truthfully. I found this so darn funny, yet very nostalgic and extremely exciting. I am sure this movie will not appeal to everyone, but it was a perfect movie for me, and I can’t wait to see it again. Excellent acting by so many wonderful actors, but certainly DiCaprio and Pitt were amazing. If you can handle the violent scenes (which are extremely funny at the same time) then be sure to go see this movie as I can’t say enough about how much I really loved it. Best movie of the year in my opinion. I am so tired of super heroes and scary dolls, that this was simply refreshing to watch!
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