OUATIH was the QT movie I enjoyed the least from his filmography, but also the most fascinating to watch as a filmmaker. QT made considerable efforts not to rely on what he has done in the past. It was a meandering slice-of-life Hollywood love letter more interested in capturing a time and place than any particular story, and didn't rely on plot struture scrambling for the zing. For all of the driving and throwaway character bits, the movie felt a lot closer to recent GTA games than what I'm used to from QT. It makes sense, though. Driving and Cars is an essential part of the LA culture, especially at that time. That's not a criticism. Just an observation about a choice.
OUATIH was also dialogue light so it didn't play to his greatest gift as a dialogue magician. Frankly, OUATIH was the most naked QT has ever been, which was mesmerizing. His love/reverence for Hollywood was front and center. The details were insane. You like Hollywood and know even a little about the Mansons, this movie might hit your sweet spot. For me? Knowing both, and not loving Hollywood, this did nothing to keep me interested.
QT is like Spike Lee or Clint Eastwood here, too. His personal feelings kept seeping in, which was interesting to see. QT makes plain his excuses for Roman Polanski. The world of OUATIH was full of hypersexual teens disguised as women that only an uber-man of iron resolve like Brad Pitt's Cliff Booth could turn away. How, asks QT, could poor Roman Polanski stand a chance? There were sexy feet EVERYWHERE.
And in this fairy tale, the Once Upon a Time part of the story, the Inglorious Basterds-level violence was supposed to be cathartic and 'fun'. Was it? I remember distinctly going, "DAMN, QT" when the hero smashes a character's head repeatedly against a fireplace mantle. Then again, the violence in the pool. I winced at that last 'callback gag'.
I'd just rewatched The Hateful 8 the day before seeing OUATIH, and considering his filmography, I'm pretty sure QT is working out his feelings about women on camera right in front of us. He's a troubled and fascinating filmmaker. I'd love to see the rumored Bounty Law that QT wrote full scripts for. Watching Michael Madsen's delivery in the 'fake show' was one of the 'classic' QT moments in the film. Watching QT re-work his toolset and play with his comfort level as a creative will only make him better. It's a shame that he's stopping at '10'.
That said, I really didn't like OUATIH, but I loved studying it.
My ranking:
ABSOLUTE BEST: Jackie Brown
Very Good: Pulp Fiction, Hateful 8
Middle Guilty Pleasures: True Romance (it counts), Kill Bill, Reservoir Dogs, From Dusk Till Dawn (also counts)
Least: Death Proof, Inglorious Bastards, Once Upon A Time in Hollywood
Offends me: Django Unchained. Honorable mention: True Romance (for one scene)
