From Max’s Dad:
I cannot stand Quentin Tarantino. I love Quentin Tarantino. There’s my dilemma. Ive seen most of his movies, both hated and loved them, yet still have this love/hate problem. Lets all agree they are ALL over the top, feature horrific violence. and drop too damn many N bombs.
Once Upon A Time in Hollywood is not any of those. Its a perfectly understandable story. Using real life people in fictional situations (this is NOT history folks) the movie moves like a Western in its storytelling and back story to explain what is going on.
Leonardo DiCaprio stars as soon to be washed up 1960s actor Rick Dalton. Dangling to his career by his fingertips, Dalton plods along in Hollywood guest starring on TV Westerns and detective shows. Accompanied virtually everywhere by his stunt double, Cliff Booth, played by Brad Pitt, Dalton struggles to remain viable. With tons of 1960’s TV and commercial references, it is right in the wheelhouse of people my age. I cant count the number of times I broke into a smile over some dumb ad I remembered or a TV theme playing in the background.