I’m not a particular fan of Quentin Tarantino, but I will still say that “Once Upon A Time In Hollywood” is an entertaining flick. At about three hours it’s a *looooong* flick, and for the majority of the run time I’d say, “yeah, this is pretty good,” but the last fifteen minutes or so… to put it simply, I don’t think I’ve laughed that loudly in a crowded theater in a *loooooong* time.
It is set in 1969 and includes historical characters and events; Sharon Tate, Roman Polanski, Steve McQueen, so on. Leonardo DiCaprio plays a washed-up actor, a veteran of westerns now relegated to bit parts; Brad Pitt plays his stunt double, equally hard up for work, but much more relaxed about it. The quest to find some sort of meaning and future is the basic issue throughout the movie, and it works reasonably well, has some pretty funny moments, and is generally entertaining.
It’s at the end when things go off the rails that the movie earns it’s ticket price. A group of people who can be accurately and succinctly described as “end state Antifa” set about to do something horrible… and as with “Inglorious Basterds,” history takes a turn. Ultraviolence ensues, and it’s GLORIOUS. I wound up randomly sitting next to a couple of little old ladies, and when blood and bits started flying, it was so bonkers that these grandmas were laughing themselves fuzzy.
If you want historical accuracy, this ain’t it. If you want “toxic” masculinity (i.e. the sort of masculinity humans evolved to have over millions of years) on display, and you want to see a fitting response to a bunch of anti-“fascist” dirty hippies… then by god this is the movie for you.