Head Ninja In Charge said:
Had a few days to think about it. Someone said this and I agree. This was Tarantino doing Linklater. That worked for me. Good flick.
That's a good description if you mean Tarantino+Linklater as opposed to just doing Linklater.
I saw it last Friday and been just letting it percolate in my mind. I literally think about the film every day. That's very telling on how much it kind of grabbed me.
It's a hard film to define or even explain really even in Tarantino terms and comparisons. I kept thinking it was simply more artistic and indulgent than other Tarantino films which is saying something. But it was so intentionally just a day in the life (or about nothing really) that it defied the usual Tarantino constructs which is where the Linklater comparison comes in. As much as his other films might be out of sequence or all over the place and have disparate parts this took that to an extreme. But it was also an homage film to hollywood of the 60s as well as the spaghetti western era which is another Linklater comparison he paints periods so well with diverse ensemble characters.
Anyway I think this film will always be hard to define and explain so I'm not gonna try any more. Where it fit into the Tarantino legacy I'm not sure yet. top half for sure and could be top 3 but I need to see it a few more times. I still have PF and KB way up there and maybe even IB above it.
As for performances:
Leo - was absolutely amazing. He was the perfect lead and delivered a towering performance. There was so much just incredible acting in his acting scenes within the shows being filmed. His cutaways to ask for a line, getting in and out of character, and his scenes were he criticized himself or interacted with other actors (like the girl) were incredible. the layers of his performance were intriguing and perfectly delivered.
Pitt - was Pitt. He owned every scene he was in really and was bigger than life. Oddly he was the standout moreso than Leo in that sense. He just oozes movie star. It wasn't acting per se but just being himself. That's no slight really some stars are always themselves and you can't see anything but them (like Nicholson). Still his acting was well done and it was a perfect character for him.
Margot Robbie - used in an interesting way. She didn't "do much" and yet she just breezed through scenes and really added a lot in terms of the setting, the period stuff, the look of it all. She was superb in her reall only scene in the movie theater though giving a great performance of the oddity of watching yourself act and hearing the crowds reaction.
I don't really mean to minimize all of the rest but it was really an ensemble thing and while the rest were all great none stood out so much - although Olyphant was really intriguing to me and I wanted more of him actually.
It is a superbly MADE film. But may not grab everyone because it is so different. It's the most accessible of all of his films really and yet may be one of the hardest to digest for just casual movie fans because they want everything to be about something.