I saw it once and really enjoyed it. It’s a layered film and stayed with me as I thought about those amazing characters of Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) and Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) and the world of 1968/69 Los Angeles that the film is set in. Tarantino’s latest is even more than any of his other movies a film about films, about actors, his unabashed love for cinema but it is about more than that. At its heart is a very sweet friendship story between the actor Rick and his long time stunt double Cliff. These two guys are probably QT’s most well developed, multi dimensional and interesting male characters. Good thing too since the vast majority of this deliberate and quiet picture is us hanging out with them. Maybe a third of the running time is with Rick doing his work. Did I say this was a quiet and “slow” movie? Well, it is, somehow in a departure for QT. It’s possibly the least violent too. Really until the final 10 minutes or so this is a meticulous and character-driven drama. Then I went back and saw it again. Yes, this is a great picture, a mature and confident one.

The film is set in 1968 mostly…and some in 1969. Rick lives right next door to Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie) and her husband the director Roman Polanski right up on that very infamous Cielo Dr. Rick is a one time famous TV show star and still gets the occasional role but somehow he missed the movie stardom boat. We hang out with Tate too while Rick is busy on a TV pilot set and Cliff is running errands, fixing Rick’s aerial and giving rides to cute hippies to their weird ranch…She goes to see a movie, buys a book and seems like a really sweet person. The main reason most of us have heard of Sharon Tate is because of those grizzly Hollywood Hills murders but here she is allowed to be more than that. A fun loving person who is happy to be alive. Robbie, Pitt and DiCaprio all deliver excellent performances here.

There really is so much to unpack and talk about, so much that I loved, but I’ll stick to one more piece of praise. Damn does this film look great and sound great. The LA of the late sixties is meticulously recreated and so real. For the entire run we are living there with nothing out of place. The cars are right, the buildings and billboards and streets. They all feel lived in and tangible. Not sure how much CGI went into crafting this world but I really do not think much. Tarantino pays so much attention to the details and everything is lovingly created.

Once Upon a Time…might be set in the real world but the line of where fact ends and fiction begins is at times difficult to tell. I did not expect Tarantino to make a biopic, I did not want him to and he did not. This is a fairy tale.