The Movie
The movie is Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood. It was released in 2019 and was written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. It stars Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio, Margot Robbie (and like 20 other A-list actors with minimal screen time).
The story goes something like this:
As the golden era of Hollywood is coming to a close, an aging actor named Rick Dalton (Leonardo Dicaprio) is coming to terms with his career while attempting to navigate the evolving industry around him. Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt), Rick’s longtime loyal friend and stunt double, has a mysterious and controversial past, which leaves him in the position of being Rick Dalton’s lifelong ride-or-die companion. Rick just so happens to live next to Roman Polanski, who is married to the lovely and darling Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie). Through coincidence, circumstance, and a strange twist of fate, these characters’ lives become intertwined, and the course of history is forever altered.
The Moment
“That was the best acting I’ve ever seen in my whole life.”
This is what 8-year-old Trudi Fraser earnestly declares into the ear of Rick Dalton after he’s finished shooting a scene on the set of Lancer––a pilot in which he was hired to play the “heavy” aka, the villain.
We are introduced to Trudi a few scenes earlier when Rick, hungover as all hell, emerges from the makeup trailer and notices Trudi sitting alone, reading a book while the rest of the cast and crew are on their lunch break. Immediately, we notice something unique about this girl, as does Rick. She speaks in a way that no other 8-year-old on planet Earth speaks––like she has the soul of a wise old Hollywood wizard.
“You don’t eat lunch?” Rick asks her.
Her response:
“I’ve got a scene after lunch. Eating lunch before I do a scene makes me sluggish. I believe it’s the job of an actor––and I say ‘actor’ not ‘actress’ because the word ‘actress’ is nonsensical––it’s the actor’s job to avoid impediments to their performance. It’s the actor’s job to strive for 100% effectiveness. Naturally, we never succeed, but it’s the pursuit that’s meaningful.”
Rick looks baffled. He’s never put that type of thought or care into anything in his life, let alone this trivial job he begrudgingly took as an attempt to keep his career afloat. It’s unthinkable that a girl less than ¼ his age would put so much consideration into her bit part; meanwhile, Rick doesn’t even know how to correctly pronounce the name of the character he’s supposed to play. He spends most of the movie until this point feeling sorry for himself, thinking that the world isn’t treating him fairly because he wasn’t handed the career he wanted.
But, as it stands, I believe it’s this exact moment that changes the trajectory of Rick’s career––and possibly his life.
Rick continues talking to Trudi before suffering an emotional collapse as he explains the plot of the book he’s currently reading––a not-so-subtle metaphor for his life. The breakdown presumably carries over as we watch him film his first scene for the show. He fumbles his lines, snapping out of character and breaking the whole scene apart, which then leads to what I think might be the funniest scene in any movie from the last ten years––his meltdown explosion in the trailer. As funny as it is, this moment is vital for the character arc of Rick Dalton. His entire world is collapsing in on him at this moment. All of his fear, anxiety, guilt, doubt, and insecurity have emerged from the depths of his being, and he has completely lost control.
“It’s the actor’s job to avoid impediments to their performance.”
The profound wisdom of young Trudi Fraser bouncing around in his head like a rubber ball on crack.
For the first time ever––at least the first time we’re able to see––Rick takes a stand. He’s done feeling sorry for himself and his self-inflicted situation. He confronts himself and his alcoholic tendencies, vowing that he’s going to stop drinking (at least for the time being) because his drinking is the sole cause of his current state of mental dishevelment. Staring into the mirror, he testifies that he is going to “show that little fucking girl… show that goddamn Jim Stacy… show all them on that goddamn fucking set who the fuck Rick Dalton is”, shortly before making a few semi-concerning threats to the well-being of his head.
Then––after a few inter-spliced scenes away from set––with the tenacity, focus, and precision of Tom Brady overcoming a 28-3 deficit in the 3rd quarter of the Super Bowl, Rick Dalton does, in fact, “show all them on that goddamn fucking set who the fuck Rick Dalton is.” He carries out an immaculate performance, perfectly executing his lines and even adlibbing some dialogue to the bewilderment of the director.
He has found redemption.
I don’t know if this is the most important moment of the movie or even the best or most entertaining moment of the movie, but it feels significant. It’s definitely the most tender moment in any of Tarantino’s movies, which, in itself, is worth noting.
I dare you not to crack a smile as Rick sits in his chair with tears in his eyes, cocking his prop gun, proudly and confidently proclaiming his own name.
“RICK FUCKIN’ DALTON”.
The Score
I don’t really have a lot to say about the score for this movie, as there isn’t much of one. OUATIH relies on its soundtrack to hit the emotional queues more than anything. Tarantino is a style guru and has always had a keen ear for music and its placement in his films, with OUATIH being no exception. The soundtrack uses a variety of old ’60s songs that I’m sure Tarantino has immense sentimentality for, seeing as this is the time period he grew up in. Most of the music is heard while we watch various characters driving around 1960s Hollywood at high speeds in classic cars. I want to exist in those moments, and that is all.
An Observation
Quentin Tarantino likes to do this thing where he creates a sort of revised history within his movies. I like to call it Tarantino Justice. If you recall, the climax of Inglorious Bastards shows us the graphic albeit satisfying visual of adolph hitler getting his face blown to literal bits by a machine gun-wielding Jewish soldier known as The Bear Jew––a fate adolph most definitely deserved. It also happens in Django Unchained when a formerly enslaved man teams up with a German bounty hunter and takes out a bunch of racist bad guys in a myriad of stylish executions––a fate these people also deserved.
Once again, it happens in this movie. Instead of the Manson family members breaking into the Polanski residence and committing their infamous atrocities against (a very pregnant) Sharon Tate and her friends, they get some good old-fashioned Tarantino Justice. Coming by way of Cliff Booth, his sweet and loyal pup Brandy, and Rick Dalton’s flamethrower, the Manson hippies are absolutely annihilated in brutally horrifying ways–– a fate they absolutely deserved.
So, why does Quentin Tarantino like to do this? I think the answer is quite simple. Why wouldn’t he do this? All of the antagonists in Tarantino’s movies––fictional or not––have committed horrible and heinous acts against other people. And, since real-life history tells us a different story of what happens to these characters, Tarantino decided to make his own version of history that is more satisfying to him and more appropriate to who he is as a filmmaker.
Tarantino Justice.
The Takeaway
Even though most of Tarantino’s movies are filled with over-the-top violence, racy dialogue, and perverted, disgusting characters, he is still able to build his cinematic worlds with a sort of child-like imagination. The amount of fun he has while writing his scripts always seeps gracefully, or perhaps violently, through the screen. Watching Tarantino play with the characters in his movie scripts––some real, some fictional, some in between––is like watching a child play with whatever assortment of toys he or she might have in their hands at the moment. A child doesn’t pay any mind to the universes that these toys belong in or the IP group that they’re part of. The only world these toys exist in is the world of the child. They might have Miles Morales teaming up with a Xenomorph to hijack a monster truck or get eaten by a T-Rex or something. They’re the ones playing with the toys; therefore, they are the ones in control of the story. That is true imagination. That is what Tarantino is a master at––only instead of using action figures, he uses Bruce Lee, Cliff Booth, and the Manson family.
My biggest takeaway after rewatching OUATIH? We could all incorporate a little more child-like imagination into our lives.
It seems more fun that way.
Have You Seen This?
My fear is that the answer to this question is a resounding NO for most people. Or, they’ve only seen it once, which is simply not enough. When this movie came out, it was so far away from anything Tarantino had done in the past that people left the theaters feeling somewhat confused or maybe even disappointed. It wasn’t the same depraved, overly violent Quentin Tarantino movie as the others that preceded it. It was actually quite the opposite. It was sentimental, touching, inspiring, thought-provoking, sincere, honest, funny, and emotional. And then, for the last sixteen minutes or so, it was completely maniacal, twisted, and deranged––just like we’re used to with QT.
But overall, this movie is a testament to truly how rare and remarkable Quentin Tarantino is as a filmmaker. It’s also an endearing statement on how he views the art of filmmaking. What is more inspiring than being able to feel someone’s complete enthusiasm for the thing they love most in the world? That’s what the audience gets from this movie.
So, please, do yourself a favor. If you haven’t seen OUATIH (I don’t know why you would read this if you haven’t seen it), watch it.
Or, if you’ve seen it only once, please go and watch it again.
The Hollow Muse 