Once Upon A Time In Hollywood Review

By Grace Conley

In a word: Long

If I’m being completely honest, I did not like this movie. And I’m so sad to say that I didn’t like this movie. I am a medium-sized Tarantino fan, and I was really excited for this movie and I was overall disappointed. It’s so devastatingly long, a whole 2 hours 45 minutes feels like it’s forever. And it feels even longer because this movie struggles with plot structure.

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Leonardo DiCaprio (left) as Rick Dalton and Brad Pitt (right) as Cliff Booth

I never had a real sense of where this movie is going, what the climax is, a rising action or anything. It just feels like a pile of stuff, stuff that’s just happening with no means, and when they do have the means, it’s dragged out too long and the point is hammered in really hard.

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Leonardo Di Caprio (left) and Brad Pitt (right)

This movie is too quiet for Tarantino, and I know every choice that was made was intentional and had a purpose, but I can’t stand that slow life esque style. It’s boring. I was bored, many times throughout this movie.

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Quentin Tarantino (left) On Set with Brad Pitt and Another Actress

The narrative is all over the place and not in a good piece it together way. The narration is used really strangely and I can’t wrap my head around the two times it’s used. 

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Kurt Russell plays Randy / The Narrator

The positives are that there is obviously some beautiful cinematography, and each shot is mesmerizing and gives a reason to see the movie at all. The performances are great as expected, Leo especially. I really wish there was more Margot Robbie though.

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Margot Robbie as Sharon Tate

It’s great at immersing you in this world of the late ’60s and in that sense, it works as a period piece.

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Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (2019) Scene

The soundtrack is good, and it’s funnier than I expected. I don’t know, I’m just sad and disappointed. I wanna hear why other people like it because I only saw it once and haven’t given myself enough time to breathe afterwards.

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Leonardo DiCaprio Dancing In A Scene In The Film

And the ending doesn’t have the great pay off I was waiting for the whole god damn time. I wish it was more over the top and not so far under. But these are my current thoughts, take em or leave em.

VERDICT

6.8/10

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