[Ark2]

Originally Posted by octothorp

I really, really liked Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

Spoiler!

I do think that at least a little knowledge about the Manson murders is necessary for it to work. I didn't know that it was part of the movie going into it, but by the time we learned that Robbie's character was Sharon Tate, I figured I knew we were building up to the murders (though I didn't see that twist on it unfolding the way it did). The history provides a lot of the tension. I can't imagine that the scene with Cliff at the ranch with all the hippies watching him would feel as menacing if you don't know that history. And then juxtaposing Cliff's time there, as he tries to be the good guy in looking into what seems to him like a potential kidnapping (or worse), while Rick is trying to be the bad-guy in his cowboy villain kidnapper role.

The only thing I have an issue with is I'm struggling to put together Rick's decision to go to Rome after having what seemed to him to be a career-high moment, at least acting-wise. I've since read that there were some deleted scenes that might fit there in the timeline (including more between Rick and the child-actress)... maybe they would have cleared that up a bit more. And she was so great... I really would have loved another scene with her.

Pacing was fine. Tarantino's pacing has always had a bit of a Sergio Leone quality to it, and so it's appropriate that here he's leaning into that a little more than usual in a film that is directly referencing Leone right down to the movie title.

To Cecil's earlier question about the antenna-fixing scene, when watching it I thought it was something that he was actually remembering, but the friend I saw it with saw it as a fantasy of what he wishes had happened.

Your friend is wrong. It was a flashback.