Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (2019)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2019
	Director: Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill, The Hateful Eight)
	Actors: Leonardo DiCaprio (Titanic, Inception), Brad Pitt (Snatch, World War Z), Margot Robbie, Emile Hirsch (Into the Wild, Speed Racer)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Comedy, Drama
	Conditions of visioning: 17.08.2019, City Kino Munich
Synopsis: The adventures of fading TV Western actor Rick Dalton (DiCaprio) and his stunt double Cliff Booth (Pitt) in 1969. Dalton finds out his neighbors are the talented director Roman Polanski and his pregnant wife Sharon Tate (Robbie).
Review: It is surprising that Tarantino has waited so long to direct a movie about TV and Cinema, its History and Actors. Cinema is often mentioned in his movies and in Deathproof Kurt Russell plays a stuntman already. This is as much as I could tell from the trailer introducing the two main characters on set. I didn't expect at all a revisitation of history like it ends up being, reminding of what the director already did in Inglorious Basterds. It is somehow difficult to get into the movie if you haven't read anything about it and don't know where it is going. It is even harder if you are not so familiar with the cinematographic landscape of that time period (will you recognize Steve McQueen?). And you will miss a big part of the movie's meaning if you don't know that Sharon Tate was murdered and this is what the movie will end up being about. If you are lost, an explanation of the ending is provided by the YouTube channel NewRockstars. The actor and his double are in the end just distractions to that main story, but the way the movie is built doesn't make it very clear. Pitt plays as usual while DiCaprio overplays even more than usual, but in fact in line with his character. As in all Tarantinos, the movie takes its sweet time (2h40) but I usually enjoy such lengths (even when as slows as The Hateful Eight) because they are the opportunity for crispy dialogs about anything, character introduction or background, or just nice shots. In this movie I didn't have that much fun and was pretty bored most of the time, waiting for a purpose that never came, sometimes apparently on purpose to take the audience by surprise. I liked several moments in the movie, especially the extreme ending, but that was not enough to make me forget the boredom. Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood is for me at the bottom of the Tarantino movie list, next to Reservoir Dogs. From the beginning of his career Tarantino has said that we would direct only 10 movies, explaining why they are sometimes numbered in their titles. According to my calculations this was the 9th. Will the next in fact be his last one? Was the poorer quality of this one a sign it is time for him to stop? Will his last movie be a Star Trek like announcements suggest? Science Fiction may indeed be the only genre he hasn't touched yet.
Rating: 4 /10