One of my absolute favorite quotes from late great New Yorker film critic Pauline Kael was how great movies are rarely perfect. That's one of the Kael sayings I remember the most because I keep using it in so much of my critical thinking. And so, here I am using it again. Quentin Tarantino’s "Once Upon A Time in Hollywood" isn't perfect, some of the Leonardo DiCaprio scenes do drag, but there are moments in that movie that are so exuberantly cinematic that, yes, it turns out that it's a great movie. Most of them having to do with Brad Pitt.
I consider “Once Upon A Time in Hollywood” to probably be Tarantino’s best movie since 1997’s "Jackie Brown." It feels immensely cinematic and, dare I say, as arthouse as anything the director has ever done. The film gets away with its near-plotless narrative because Tarantino is almost always, confidently might I add, in total control of the risk-taking mise-en-scene, but, another reason is that it has two male leads that just exude charisma. Brad Pitt is the guy who deserves the Oscar nomination. Supporting, of course. His Cliff Booth is, as Jeffrey Wells over at HE describes, Mr. Cool. Adding, that “this is Pitt’s moment…right here, right now. age 55, prime of his life.”
Yeah, the old-school "male lead" is a dead thing in 2019, but, if anything, Tarantino’s movie is a tribute to that bygone era. Paul Schrader suggested this last night, and I agree, when he mentions that “Brad Pitt has entered the pantheon of America actors. By that I mean Grant, Clift and Newman not Brando or Dean.” It’s all about charisma, folks, and Pitt is a master at that practice.
Pitt, a legitimately great actor who has barely had his shot at Oscar glory may have very well found the role to nab him his first win. His Cliff Booth damn-near steals the show in ‘Once Upon A Time,’ especially in an eerie set-piece taking place at the vast and desert-like Manson compound.
I always look forward to the next movie Pitt stars in. His acting talents have never been questioned. The natural charisma is contagious, but so is the fact that he has never really “sold out” to franchises. There aren’t many highly-payed and popular actors that could admit to that in this day and age of Hollywood bloat; DiCaprio is another one.
Pitt has subtly built up one of the most eclectic and ingenious filmographies in Hollywood (“Fight Club,” “12 Monkeys,” “True Romance,” “Se7en,” “The Assassination of Jesse James,” “Moneyball,” “Snatch,” “Inglourious Basterds,” “Burn After Reading,” “Ocean’s Eleven”). Those are some risk-taking endeavors and, yet, why has Pitt never gotten the credit and respect he deserves as an artist? The obvious answer would be because he is just too goddamn attractive. Time will remedy that, Pitt indeed belongs in the pantheon and a supporting-actor campaign would most likely have him in contention to win his first acting Oscar.