Sean Paul Murphy, Writer

Sean Paul Murphy, Writer
Sean Paul Murphy, Storyteller

Friday, February 7, 2020

Best Movie of 2019: Once Upon A Time In Hollywood


I am not a huge Quentin Tarantino fan.

I appreciate his work. I respect his work. If I'm flipping through the channels and I land on one of his films, I'll probably watch it. That said, I do not love his work. I often found their brilliance matched by their self-indulgence. More importantly, not of his films have ever really engaged me on an emotional level. To me, they were simply insightful genre deconstructions loaded with pop culture references. Tellingly, I do not own any of his films on Blu-Ray. But I'll buy this one.

That surprises me.

When I first read that Tarantino was going to do a film about the Manson murders, I remember groaning audibly. I was once a voracious reader of true crime. I read quite a bit about the Manson murders, and the last thing I wanted to see was another historical rewrite from Tarantino along the lines of Inglourious Bastards. However, as the film went into production, I began to consider it more favorably. I had long doubted the narrative prosecutor Vincent Bugiliosi put forward in his bestseller Helter Skelter: that the murders were simply the act of a mad cult leader trying to start a race war. But the murders were not random. They were about revenge. They were meant to send a message. Sharon Tate and her friends died for being at the wrong house at the wrong time. The Helter Skelter motive was a convenient device to avoid showing how deeply Manson and his family worked their way into Hollywood.  (If you'd like to know more about that, check out the Charles Manson's Hollywood series on Karina Longworth's podcast You Must Remember This.) Perhaps, I thought, Quentin Tarantino could get to the true heart of the matter.

He didn't. And I'm glad he didn't. Instead, he delivered something much better. The two-hour-and-forty-one minute film barely touches on Manson. Throughout the bulk of the film, Manson and his followers are little more than an ominous shadow on the horizon. Instead, the film concentrates on the friendship between a fading TV star, Rick Dalton, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, and his stuntman/ gofer Cliff Booth, played by Brad Pitt. While Booth seems perfectly satisfied with his place in the world, Dalton fears for his future as Hollywood's taste turns from the 1950's style pretty boys to embrace a hippie culture he doesn't like or understand.

How does any of this relate to the Manson murders? Well, Dalton happens to live on Cielo Drive in Los Angeles, right next door to the house rented by director Roman Polanski and his pregnant wife Sharon Tate, played wonderfully by Margot Robbie. If Charlie Manson represents the dark underside of the counter culture, Robbie's Sharon Tate represents the naive promise of the hippie movement. She moves through the film like a delightful ray of sunshine, all the while filling the viewer with dread since we all know her fate....

The pace of the film is leisurely as we slowly get to know Rick and Cliff. Rick had a promising film career but finally made a name for himself as the star of a TV western. Now, his series is gone and his film career has stalled. He finds himself reduced to playing guest star spots on other people's shows. Cliff, on the other hand, is content to be Rick's gofer. He certainly has the time to do so. His career as a stuntman has stalled because of rumors that he murdered his wife, despite the official ruling that it was a tragic accident.

One of my problems with the later Martin Scorcese films was his over reliance on Leonardo DiCaprio as his cinematic alter ego. I'm sorry, but I never thought DiCaprio, while a fine actor, possessed the necessary weight and gravitas for those serious roles. However, DiCaprio is perfect in this film. He magnificently embodies the colossal self-doubt and arrogance of a star in decline. And Brad Pitt more than matches him step by step. His Cliff Booth is easy-going and loyal, and more than a little wise, but also hard as a rock. There isn't an ounce of fear in him. He isn't intimidated by Bruce Lee or even the Manson Family.

Here's the Bruce Lee fight scene:


In perhaps the tensest sequence in the film, Cliff gives on of the Manson girls a ride out to the Spahn Movie Ranch, where he once worked as a stuntman. Cliff doesn't like what he sees. Fearing the owner George Spahn, played by Bruce Dern, might be a prisoner, he insists on seeing him and refuses to take no for an answer.

Slowly, the film ominously rambles toward the night of 9 August 1969 when four members of the Manson family decided to pay a call on Cielo Drive. I'm not going to tell you what happens, but I must admit it left me with a smile. In fact, I found myself smiling throughout the entire film. The reason this film topped my list for 2019 has nothing to do with art. I simply enjoyed it the most. It was a great time at the movies.

In addition to the great performances, the film benefited from a fine and insightful script and assured direction from Tarantino. One of my main criticisms of Tarantino's work is his susceptibility to cultural self-indulgence at the expense of the story. This, however, was the perfect vehicle for him. This film IS essentially an examination of culture. It allowed Tarantino to freely indulge his film homages and references in a way that enhances and forwards the story.

Still, perhaps what gave me the most joy watching this film was the way it evoked the period. I was only a child in the sixties. I certainly didn't grasp all of the nuances of the culture at the time, but everything about this film, the costumes, art direction, production design and music brought me back to 1969. It felt so real and authentic. I loved it.

A must see.




Film Appreciations:

Once Upon A Time in Hollywood
Apocalypse Now
Runaway Train
The Legend of Hell House
Emperor of the North
The Hospital
Primer
Conspiracy

My novel Chapel Street is now available! You can currently buy the Kindle and paperback at Amazon and the Nook, paperback and hardcover at Barnes & Noble.


Learn more about the book, click Here.

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