Once Upon a Time in Hollywood versus Toy Story 4

Which twosome is more dimensional?

Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood strikes me as his best since the Kill Bill films, but I have caveats. Principally, the film's meandering pace. I don't mind Mr. Tarantino going long, Pulp Fiction and Jackie Brown are almost as long, but this film feels slack at times. Mr. Tarantino wants to evoke LA in 1969, so there are endless shots of Brad Pitt driving past advertisements for McKenna's Gold and such with KHJ blaring on the soundtrack. Mr. Tarantino is overly drunk on the visual past and the film is a hall of mirrors of 60s film and television.

Mr Tarantino seems to me unduly fond of barbecuing the Manson family for emotional payoff in the film's climax. Far be it from me to extol the flower children and their sinister offshoots, but the shooting ducks in a barrel moral stance is the same here as when Mr. Pitt was carving up Nazis in Inglorious Basterds. Mr Tarantino will never have the moral probity of a Bresson or even a Preminger, but he does hit upon a theme in his wheelhouse here: the career anxiety of a middle-aged male actor.

Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt are both superb as a perhaps fading star and his stunt double. Di Caprio has more range, but Pitt's casting is spot on and he has never been better. Tarantino, as usual, provides enough clever dialogue and arresting situations to give the cast ample opportunity. Mr Tarantino is the most gifted Hollywood writer and director for actors of this era and the cast is full of standouts: Margaret Qualley, Bruce Dern, Dakota Fanning, Damian Lewis, Nicholas Hammond, Julia Butters, Timothy Olyphant, Kurt Russell and Rebecca Gayheart all offer memorable bits. Once Upon a Time... is self indulgent, but Tarantino has earned his rueful reverie as time marches on for us all.

What Tarantino lacks is what Josh Cooley's Toy Story 4 has in spades: a dynamic visual style and three dimensional characterizations. "Forky", a spork really, shows more development and complexity, as do Woody and Bo Peep, than even the characters Tarantino takes from real life; especially Sharon Tate. Toy Story 4 is overwritten and over plushed, but it is also a humanist masterpiece. Randy Newman's score is his best and contributions byTom Hanks, Annie Potts, Keanu Reeves and Christina Hendricks are priceless. (11/2/19)