Once Upon a Time in Hollywood: A Review of Tarantino’s Latest Masterpiece

Let’s take a look back into history: Los Angeles, 1969. The Golden Age of Hollywood was in full swing. Movies like Midnight Cowboy and True Grit dominated the silver screen. Sharon Tate, star of Valley of the Dolls, is murdered by the Manson Family in her Beverly Hills home.

In Quentin Tarantino’s new film, Once Upon A Time in Hollywood, we meet Rick Dalton (played by Leonardo DiCaprio), an actor whose time in Hollywood is dwindling more and more every day. He’s always accompanied by his stunt double/driver/right-hand man, Cliff Booth (played by Brad Pitt), who struggles to fit into “new” Hollywood as much as Rick does. Dalton, who, for the past year, has only been able to book parts on already existing TV shows playing the bad guy, managed to get his own show canceled, where he was the series lead. Both guys, finally feeling the effects of ruthless show business, drive around LA, getting drunk. 

“I really enjoyed the movie. I went with my friends, who are big Tarantino movie fans,” said Carly Wrobleski (10)

In true Tarantino fashion, the movie has balanced levels of intrigue, creativity, and gore. The tragic events of August 9th and the Manson murders are briefly touched, but just enough to make the plot interesting. Unlike most of Tarantino’s movies, this film is, overall, less violent than the others. However, there are still violent scenes and language, but nothing a mature movie-goer can’t handle. 

“I thought it was a little violent, but it was still a really good movie. [It] had a good storyline.” said Annika Do (10)

All in all, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is a beautiful portrayal of the events of retro Hollywood and displays the true melodrama of the 1960s. Although the 2 main characters are not real people, Tarantino convinces us that they are in the way that he integrates them into real events that occurred. This film is truly a love letter to Hollywood.