MOVIE REPORT CARD: ONCE UPON A TIME... IN HOLLYWOOD

Date: 7/26/19
Title: Once Upon A Time In Hollywood
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Dakota Fanning, Timothy Olyphant, Kurt Russell, Emile Hirsch

GRADES

ACTING: 95
DIRECTING: 80
SCREENPLAY: 75
EDITING: 80
CINEMATOGRAPHY: 90
SOUNDTRACK: 95

FINAL: 85/B

COMMENTS

Your adoration for Once Upon A Time...In Hollywood, is going to be very reliant on how much you love Tarantino. I guess, to be fair, most of his films are like that. However, a lot of Once Upon A Time...In Hollywood, feels very self-indulgent. More so than normal for Tarantino. It reeks of a film that only Quentin Tarantino can get away with...and he knows it. He knows that his devoted fans will love it no matter what, and his critics will critique it no matter what. So the hard part, is separating the two forces. Where the film succeeds, is in the stellar performances by Brad Pitt, and Leonardo DiCaprio. The two, carry this thing all the way to the finish line. It's because of them, that this works at all. Margot Robbie, does a fine job as well. Tarantino does, what Tarantino does. While I don't think it truly works, overall, it's enjoyable to watch. The film is immensely overstuffed. He tugs you along here and there, but nothing every really amounts to much. There's a lot of waiting for the "point" to happen. You feel a lot of the run-time here. While that's typical of Tarantino, the material isn't quite as good and the entertainment factor, is kind of hit or miss. Once Upon A Time...In Hollywood is still entertaining overall, thanks in large part to its performances. While I think that a lot of what happens here is a bit messy, it's a fascinating mess to watch at times. 

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