As busy I get from time to time, I find that I can't see every movie under the sun, leaving my friends and colleagues to fill in the blanks for me. As poetically as I think I wax about movies on this website as a wannabe critic, there are other experts out there. Sometimes, it inspires me to see the movie too and get back to being my circle's go-to movie guy. Sometimes, they save me $9 and you 800+ words of blathering. In a new review series, I'm opening my site to friend submissions for guest movie reviews.
TODAY’S CRITIC: Lafronda Stumn
Lafronda Stumn is a student at Madisonville Community College and intends to graduate with an Associate's degree in Associate of the Arts. She plans on earning a Bachelors Degree in Motion Picture Studies and English at Wright State University. Her favorite Directors are Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, and Spike Lee, and her favorite actors are Al Pacino, Denzel Washington, Meryl Streep, and Halle Berry. Lafronda contacted this page looking for a place to get published and I enjoy giving people that very kind of opportunity. This is her 20th guest review for Every Movie Has a Lesson. Welcome as always, Lafronda!
HER REVIEW: Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood
Quinten Tarantino is one of the most controversial filmmakers of all time. The controversies could be a wide range of feelings. Some feel his portrayal of women in his films is misogynistic. Many believe he says the n-word way too many times in his movies. Others call out Quinten writing dialogue that is campy and overwritten for senes that go on and on much longer than needed. The most current controversy is his depiction of Sharon Tate and the Manson Murders that occurred over 50 years ago in Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood. Many women critics, actresses, writers had an issue with him glorifying the murders as popcorn entertainment, which was the case for Tarantino's 2012 Christmas film Django Unchained.
I'm afraid I have to disagree with the past criticisms. Tarantino's ninth film (or eighth, according to the famed director) is an ode of a Hollywood portrayal of Sharon Tate as a sweet person who loved her husband and her pregnancy. His movie is a poem to Sharon Tate and the love of her life with director Roman Polanski as a wife and mother. Tate has skills as a comedic actress. The main film storyline is the relationship between washed-up actor Rick Dalton and his sidekick Cliff Booth. The actors are played by great stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt.
The movie begins with Dalton having dinner with a producer (the marvelous Al Pacino) who tells him his career is over in Hollywood. To salvage his career, the producer recommends Rick doing spaghetti westerns and spy films in Italy. To Dalton, this is a downfall for his career. He feels that Italian films are beneath him. Since he burned so many bridges in Hollywood, those films are now his only option to relevancy within the industry. He tells his stunt double Cliff, his stuntman and personal driver since he lost his license to drunk driving one too many times, the bad news.
Dalton's career was once hot on TV with a very successful career on the TV show Bounty Law, but he left the show to start a film career like Steve McQueen and Clint Eastwood. His plan backfired and now he’s been playing bad guy guest spots as villains killed rather quickly.
Currently, Rick is making a TV movie western and, during a break of filming, he begins a conversation with a child actress reading a Walt Disney book. Julia Butters gives an outstanding performance as a defiant star of the future. While talking, Dalton has a breakdown and starts crying about his career and lacks confidence in his acting ability. The young actress tries to console him in a well-written scene of weakness and ultimate hope for Dalton's character. Happening at the same time, there are scenes where Cliff Booth works on a set as a stunt double and encounters Bruce Lee. The martial arts legend comes across as a jerk that is full of himself. That leads to a scene where Lee and Booth faceoff in a fight situation that is hilarious.
Another scene is when Dalton flubs his lines repeatedly as a western villain is under the influence of alcohol and maybe a case of bipolar disorder. There's a great moment where Dalton goes into a self-inflicted tirade in his trailer, verbally attacking his lousy performance in the movie.
Sharon Tate enters while watching herself in the movie theater she is on-screen co-starring with Dean Martin. The real film scenes are used creating a contrast between the real Sharon Tate and Margot Robbie. Seeing her playing Tate is surreal, to say the very least in some well-directed work from Tarantino.
The ending of the film is not what you think it is. It is something to behold. That last sequence of the film is astonishingly brilliant and original in portraying how Tarintino handles the Manson murders. I found the last line a joyous movie-going experience. That final scene of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is the best in any Tarantino film. I enjoyed the ending way too much than I should. Tarantino earns the distinction as one of the most gifted filmmakers of the last several decades.
Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood is also a great depiction of friendship between DiCaprio and Pitt. Their chemistry is flawless in execution. As mentioned before, Julia Butters is the star on the rise in an excellent performance. Damien Lewis, Bruce Dern, and Margaret Qualley all give fine performances as hangers-on in Manson's Hollywood ambiance. I expected many Oscar nominations, including lead actor for DiCaprio, supporting for Pitt, and Robbie for supporting actress. Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood is one of the best films of this year or any year.
Rating: ****
CONCLUSION
Thank you again, Lafronda! You are welcome anytime. Friends, if you see a movie that I don't see and want to be featured on my website, hit up my website's Facebook page and you can be my next GUEST CRITIC!
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