Bumping this thread back up to the top as I'm surprised there is no real talk about it.
As above at the time I watched Jackie Brown if you had asked me if I was was a fan of Tarantino, I would have undoubtedly said yes. However not one film since has really sat right with me and I've had no urge to re-watch any of the others since. I've not been to the cinema to see a Tarantino film since Kill Bill Part 2 which I didn't enjoy all that much. However I think Pitt and DiCaprio plus the subject matter got my attention this time. It seemed like the closest Tarantino had ventured back to his 90s style, so I was willing to give it a go.
I would say it was predictable in part, using many Tarantino tropes and things we have seen before which definitely took the edge off. When Pulp Fiction came out it took audiences by surprise the way it manipulated reality, now we come to expect this and I would say some of the ideas in Tarantino's later films do get recycled here which unfortunately steals those moments thunder. If this film had followed on from his 90's work it would probably be seen as another masterpiece.
I think this is a film best enjoyed by those interested in the film industry, the stars of the era and a knowledge of the events surrounding the Manson murders. I think the biggest flaw is that if you don't know about these things you won't get the best out of the subplot / themes / constant nods and re-imaginings. I was certainly daunted by the length of the film, I found Django overly long but I think there was only one part here where my concentration wavered, for the most part I was lost in it's world.
As others have said in another thread I think Pitt's character possibly steals the show and I wish we got to see more of Sharron Tate. She was obviously the Yin to DiCaprio's Yang, the rising star to his declining star. Then on the flip side Pitt was the grounded rock who had none of the problems caused by grasping at fame. He just seemed to navigate fairly zen like through this strange world of make-believe (both on and off screen).
The film was a lot more playful than I expected, I thought it was going to be more of a straight telling of the wider events surrounding the Manson murders. I knew it would be done very stylistically and so thought it might be bordering on exploitative. However this wasn't the case, I loved it's fantastical direction.
As with most of Tarantino's works it is self indigent, but as a film buff I got to enjoy the indulgence a lot more this time around. The use of alternative history and the reworking of film scenes and posters was kind of trite, but just thoroughly enjoyable and I couldn't help but grin. Film fans often talk about who was originally cast for a role or imagine what a film would have been like if someone else had played a character. This took the idea and sprinkled it throughout.
It's these flourishes that makes it in part a love letter to cinema and also those who love cinema. This blurring of fantasy and reality reflects on the make believe world of Hollywood but also the swirl of fantasy in the minds of those mixed up in the cultural revolution at the time.
I adored the ending, and when I say that I mean literally the last 2-3 minutes. I think the film sets you up to create your own story of what happens next and I have been thinking about it a lot since leaving the cinema. A "what if" movie that sings to the choir yes, but for me it was impossible not to love it.