Once upon a time... in Hollywood

The ninth film by Quentin Tarantino turned out pretty much as I expected. It falls a bit short of his greatest hits, but compared to most of today's films, it's still at the absolute pinnacle of cinema, no doubt about that. I have to admit, though, that without the main acting duo of Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt, the film would likely have fared worse in terms of audience reception. Both portrayed their characters excellently, and I thoroughly enjoyed every moment they were on screen (if I had to choose just one, I’d go with Pitt... his role as the carefree stuntman was incredibly appealing to me). The supporting characters didn’t just fade into the background, either; scenes with Bruce Lee or Steve McQueen are ones I’ll remember for a long time. I knew the basic storyline, so I was curious to see what twist QT would come up with at the end. The final fifteen-minute sequence is worth it; it’s almost the most vivid thing I’ve experienced from this director throughout his career. It was clear how much Tarantino enjoyed this epilogue and finally got to incorporate his unconventional style of violence. Great stuff. A strong four stars, and I’m giving it 87%. (20.12.2019)

Unfortunately, all the less than rave reviews didn't lie, and though I say this with a heavy heart as a die-hard Tarantino fan, this is one of Tarantino's weakest films. What probably disappoints the most (except for the ending) is the lack of any powerful or memorable scenes. Unfortunately, there's also virtually none of the absurdist humor you'd simply expect from Tarantino. There is also next to no dialogue with surprising and graduating zingers and basically everything that happens in the first two hours is a bunch of preset fluff. Sure, that’s nothing really new for Tarantino, and normally I wouldn't even rate that as a complaint, but there's one major problem here. It's simply not entertaining; instead, it's terribly long-winded in places and if it weren't for the famed Pitt and DiCaprio, it might very well have ended up being an even bigger bummer. Brad Pitt basically steals the whole show and plays one of his best roles ever here. DiCaprio is great too, but Pitt has a much more rewarding and audience-friendly role. I'm afraid another viewing won't immediately help here. Plus, at this point, I'm kind of glad to have it all behind me. I freely admit that I'm not a 60s pop culture expert – if I were I might have enjoyed all the hidden references and allusions as I should have and rated this, supposedly Tarantino's most personal project, completely differently. The last 30 minutes or so, however, are sheer beauty and I'd be interested in the immediate impressions of the real Roman Polanski. 30 Dec 2019 – my first self-counter-review after a second viewing on UHD. It wasn't until the second time that I fully appreciated Tarantino's genius and the partial departure from his earlier work, which in the case of his ninth film is only to the benefit of the cause. It could be safely characterized as Tarantino having grown up a lot as a filmmaker, and his Once Upon a Time in Hollywood can be given a small amount of grace as an adult variation on Pulp Fiction or Jackie Brown. Otherwise, don't be fooled (as I was on my first viewing) – Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is no less cool than Inglourious Basterds, Django Unchained, or Pulp Fiction. It just doesn't show it so ostentatiously and, on top of everything else, the last half hour beautifully rehabilitates a cruelly overlooked piece of history. And for the real Roman Polanski, it must have been that much more of a tearjerker at the end. I'm upping from 3 stars to 5 stars and will continue to search for the reason why it didn't sit well with me on opening night at the cinema. (17.08.2019)