'Once upon a time in Hollywood' Tarantino's fairytale tribute to movies in the 60's

Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio. Quentin Tarantino. Expectations with 'Once upon a time in.. Hollywood' were sky high. Add to that the news that the famous Tate-la Bianca murders would intertwine with the story, made O.U.A.T.I.H. a must watch movie in 2019.

Which makes it that much more weird that I watched it only recently, 6 months after it was released. I missed watching it on the first weekend and discouraging reviews (from friends and critics) dashed my hopes which led me to avoiding it completely. Come February 2020, thanks to Amazon Prime and a wonderfully worded review from Raja Sen, I decided to go for it.

And it turned out to be a lot more fun than what I had anticipated. The chemistry between Pitt and DiCaprio makes it worth your time and money. Described as a relationship which is 'more than a brother and little less than a wife', their on screen friendship is refreshing and believable. Rick Dalton (DiCaprio) is an actor who is past his prime in Hollywood and playing secondary roles in whatever few movies/series he can get his hands on. Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) is Dalton's stuntman, his double, who is also his driver and go-to man for any handy work that he requires and for which Booth gets paid. However, there is an unsaid comfort and respect between them which suggests that they are more equal than superior-subordinate.

Since I (and most of us in India) haven't grown up watching Hollywood westerns from the 60's , a lot of references and attempts to stir up nostalgia go in vain. However, having watched a few such movies ('The good,bad and ugly' comes to my mind), I appreciate and understand what Tarantino is going for here with his tribute to that era. Beautifully depicted Los Angeles, mostly bright and sunny, would have evoked memories for people who have association with the place.

There isn't much to the story itself until the final act (more on that later). We see Rick Dalton, famous for his act in a series called 'The Boston Law', struggling to come to terms to his fading career. He cries on set while describing the state of his career (under the pretext of describing the plot of a book he is reading) and needs a pep talk from Cliff (you're fucking Rick Dalton) to keep himself going. Cliff, on the other hand, due to the nature of his job, has his fate tied to Rick's success. Being a stunt double doesn't pay much if the actor for which you're a double doesn't get work. However, he seems to be handling this much more positively than his friend. He lives in a trailer with his dog, is good at a fight having even kicked Bruce Lee's ass in a duel and has a sketchy past wherein he may or may not have killed his wife. Rick, in contrast to Booth's trailer, lives in a plush Cielo Drive house, neighbor to Sharon Tate (an American actress) and Roman Polanski (Film director), and hopes that this will get him a break in one of Polanski's movie one day.

Booth moves around the city engaging (albeit only from a distance) with hippie girls who want to hitchhike but not in the direction he is headed in. Until one day, fate results in Booth giving one of the them a lift to Spahn Ranch, where they used to shoot for 'A Boston Law'. This ranch is now occupied by hippies who are believed to be followers of the to-be-famous serial killer Charles Manson. Booth suspects some foul play and tries to get to the bottom of it by meeting the owner (who he knew from his days of working here) but nothing fruitful comes of it. The tension in this scene is high with Manson anticipated to show up. However, we are not indulged in any of Booth-Manson interaction. Booth leaves unconvinced but not before he bashes up one of the ranch fellow and makes him fix the flat in his car.

Which brings us to the final act. Rick is returning from Italy, after taking up an offer from one of the producer to act in mainstream Italian cinema instead of doing sidekick roles in Hollywood. Post his stint there, he has his forced retirement planned which leaves Booth stranded with no future plans in place. However, just like how it was earlier, Booth takes this development in a more upbeat manner than Rick and is looking forward to getting drunk one last time before their association ends. Back at their residence in Cielo Drive, smoking acid cigarettes sold by the hippie girls and getting hungover, Dalton and Booth unknowingly await their neighbor Sharon Tate's fate. However, Tarantino, like Inglorious Bastards, plays loose and fast with facts and changes the narrative to a much more positive end. The hippies, instead of attacking the house of Polanski and Tate as they are unable to locate them, end up attacking Rick Dalton's house. This entire act has comic moments with Pitt being hilarious and Di DiCaprio's Dalton getting his one last moment of glory using the flamethrower.  It ends with Booth ending up in a hospital and Dalton at Tate's house (hopefully getting the break he was hoping for).

The reason for my slight disappointment stems from the fact that a lot more was expected for reasons mentioned at the start of this article. The movie was primarily a tribute to 60's Hollywood than the expected historical fiction twisted to suit the directors narrative ala Inglorious Bastards.

Another Tarantino movie where the the good guys win and the bad guys end up dead. Just like it is in fairy tales which begin with 'Once upon a time in... ' . Watch this 9th movie from Quentin Tarantino for Cliff Booth and Rick Dalton.

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