Quentin Tarantino’s films for me are a hit or miss affair, some I adore, some or passable, and with some my suspension of disbelief is shattered rendering them pointless. Of the nine movies directed, so far, by Tarantino, my favorite three arePulp Fiction, Inglorious Basterds, and now Once Upon A Time in Hollywood ….

Once  is centered on the relationship between Rick Dalton, (Leonardo DiCaprio) a television westerns actor whose career has begun to fade and his Stunt Double/Driver/ and friend Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt.) Set in 1969 a period where the former glory of Hollywood had faded away with the collapse of the studio system in the 1950s and just before the rise of personal filmmaking of the 70s that would usher in the likes of Scorsese, Coppola, Lucas, and Spielberg, With his western series Bounty Law  canceled Rick has turned to guest appearances on other shows, often playing the heavy, as his prospects continue to dry up while Cliff, dogged by an unresolved scandal, finds work as a stuntman difficult to book. In this dying and decaying period with the blush vanishing from the Free Love Hippie movement Rick finds himself suddenly neighbors with Hollywood’s latest Golden Couple, Roman Polanski, still riding high from his smash success Rosemary’s Baby and his actress/wife Sharon Tate. Throughout the film the audience is given three storylines to follow, Rick’s struggle to remain relevant and find his voice again as an artist, Sharon’s satisfaction in his art and at the prospect of becoming a mother, and Cliff’s course crossing paths with the dangerous and murderous Manson Cult that has taken up residence on an abandoned western movie ranch.  The film’s final act deals with the tragic events that for many shattered Hollywood’s illusions of safety and privilege in a rapidly changing culture.

Tarantino has love been hailed and derided for his scripts’ ubiquitous cinematic and pop-cultural references and here with a subject matter firmly set in the middle of that melting pop he does nothing to restrain those impulses. That said it is clear that this reflects a deep and committed love for movies and for this film the references and the nods and the adoration deepens the story’s reality even as the director takes significant liberties with the historical record. Even as the plot drives relentless towards an evening that has become seared in popular consciousness for it’s brutality and its horror Once  never loses sight of the essential humanity of its characters, both fictional and historical. In the end the resolutions is not so much about cults and mad insane violence as it is about the deep emotional bond between two men who have lived entangled in each other’s lives.

This film is not for everyone. For some the long diversions into the minutia of the character’s lives, scenes that simply illustrate their lived experiences without advancing narrative of ticking off plot points may seem to drag and bore but for me I could spend several more hours following Rick and Cliff as they navigate a difficult friendship and the industry’s ever changing structure. Like most Tarantino films when the violence does erupt it is bloody, visceral, graphic, and even somewhat cartoonish, however if your knowledge of the real events on that isolated drive give you hesitation about seeing this movie, I certainly felt that, set your concerns aside. This is a love letter to a lost period, to an art form, and not a celebration, veneration, or even exploitation of Manson and his ‘family.’