Renowned director Quentin Tarantino once stated that he will retire after making his tenth film. Last year’s Once Upon A Time… in Hollywood was his ninth, so he has only one left. Are we worried? Not at all. In the entertainment business, coming out of retirement is a pretty common thing. Tarantino is only 56 years old and we don’t see why he shouldn’t make movies until he’s in his 70s like Scorsese.

The director has had many brilliant movies but is Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood his best? If you ask us, we’ll give you the reasons why it is his greatest film, and why it’s not. Let’s argue for both sides, shall we?

Best: Outstanding Acting By Julia Butters And Brad Pitt

Tarantino has worked with plenty of good actors in his movies but none have given better performances than Julia Butters and Brad Pitt in Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood. The movie was a playground for some of Hollywood’s best talents including Damian Lewis, Margot Robbie, and Leonardo DiCaprio. It wasn’t easy to stand out. However, Pitt managed to outshine everyone else and be the MVP of the film. Inglorious Basterds? No, that movie was dominated by Christoph Waltz. Pitt was at his best here. From forcing a man at the Spahn Ranch to fix his tire to killing members of the Manson Family, Pitt was on a roll.

The other exemplary performance came from 9-year-old Julia Butters, who played a young actress called Trudi Fraser. In one of the most unforgettable moments in the film, Rick (DiCaprio) meets a child actor called Trudi as he prepares to shoot a scene. Trudi is not only more mature but also a better actor than Rick. She schools him on method acting and goes on to analyze the biography of Walt Disney. She also consoles Rick when he breaks down, thus coming off as more mature.

Not His Best: Very Minimal Violence

Tarantino has been known for his ability to make gore scenes look exquisitely artistic in films. Think of the car collisions in Death Proof or the shootouts in The Hateful Eight. There has always been violence in his work but this time it was neglected until the very end.

While it was good for Tarantino to try something different, the decision to minimize the violence made the film appear like it was directed by someone else. Proceedings also felt dragged. It’s like a Scorsese movie without the narration or a single tough guy. It just didn’t feel right.

Best: A Superior Script

Tarantino’s script does a great job of mixing actual history with fiction. Several figures in Hollywood’s history are included: Steve McQueen, Roman Polanski, Bruce Lee, and Wayne Maunder among others. On the other hand, Rick and Cliff happen to be fictional characters.

The character development is given more priority than the action. There is no end-to-end mayhem. Perhaps this is because Tarantino had been recently accused of being too edgy. His previous film The Hateful Eight was quite dark but it didn’t leave an impact. So a change in direction was a good move.

Not His Best: Less Focus On The Female Lead

Previously, Tarantino films have always placed much focus on female characters, even when the central figure was a man. From Mia Wallace to Beatrix Kiddo, the women have always been crucial to the plot and are involved in most of the proceedings.

However, Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood feels like a macho fest. Margot Robbie’s character of Sharon Tate isn’t given much to do or say. Was it an issue with time? This could have been rectified by cutting Cliff’s (Brad Pitt) driving time and allocating more minutes to Robbie. Cliff drives too much in the movie.

Best: The Climax

In the final moments of Once Upon A Time… in Hollywood, Tarantino trekked away from the actual events that occurred during the infamous Manson Family Murders and created his own fantasy ending ⁠— and it had all the violence we’ve come to expect from Tarantino. The twist plus the return to good ol’ Tarantino gave a satisfying end to a film that appeared confusing at first.

In real life, the Manson Family killed Sharon Tate and four other people in August 1969. Throughout the movie’s runtime, Tarantino makes us believe that this is what’s going to happen. However, the Manson Family members targeted Rick instead and tried to kill him but they ended up getting killed instead.

Not His Best: Copying From Previous Work

Some have called it “paying homage,” but a case could be made that Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood is simply Tarantino reminiscing over his previous movies. There are plenty of references to the films that made him popular but some scenes are simply copied without major modifications.

There is a scene where Leonardo DiCaprio does a dance that is quite similar to John Travolta’s dance in Pulp Fiction. That particular dance is quite iconic, so it’s surprising that Tarantino would choose to recreate it. One background is also lifted from Django: Unchained.

Best: Attention To Detail

The visual and aural details are simply superb. All the little things are captured. For example, only AM radio shows are used in Cliff’s car, since FM wasn’t there in the ’60s. All modern Los Angeles buildings are also avoided in the movie and focus is given to the one or two-story establishments.

Even the commercials are straight from the ’60s. All these nods to old Hollywood transport the viewer back to those times to great effect. Margot Robbie even wore the exact jewelry that was worn by Sharon Tate. This was provided by her sister Debra at the request of Tarantino.

Not His Best: Unjustifiably Long

Once Upon A Time… in Hollywood feels like many short films stitched together. There is a good reason for that. Tarantino intended to show clips from different movies that the main character Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) had appeared in throughout his career. But in the end, it feels like he wanted to make a Western, a horror film and many other genres all at once.

The lengthy screentime isn’t justified at all. The movie could have been more entertaining if most of the scenes were summarized and made to be more direct. Some scenes, like the driving, could have simply been shortened to save on time.

Best: The Numbers Don’t Lie

Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood is the most Oscar-nominated work of Tarantino’s career. It received a whopping 10 nominations. The 73rd British Academy Film Awards equally gave the film 10 nominations, It also had the highest opening weekend of all Tarantino’s films at $40.1 million. How much it will gross in total remains to be seen but the numbers are good so far.

In total, the movie has been nominated for 167 awards so far across different organizations. It has won 66. These totally insane numbers are the most that a Tarantino film has ever received. So if we’re to use numbers, this is simply his best work.

Not His Best: Poor Attempt At Humor

The stylish dialogue/banter that Tarantino is known for is missing in this film. But what’s worse is the poor attempt at injecting humor into the proceedings. There is a fight scene between Cliff and Bruce Lee (Mike Moh). Instead of depicting the man as the martial arts maestro that he was, he is depicted as a clownish, overconfident man who makes funny sounds. The scene was meant to be humorous but it came off as cringey.

Even Bruce Lee’s daughter, Shannon Lee felt disrespected by the scene. She was quoted as saying: “While I understand that the mechanism in the story is to make Brad Pitt’s character out to be such a badass that he can beat up Bruce Lee, the script treatment of my father as this arrogant, egotistical punching bag was really disheartening — and, I feel, unnecessary.”