Once Upon a Time … in Evolved

Home , Roman Polanski, Sharon Tate, Terry Melcher

FRIDAY, AUGUST 2, 2019 | SERVING CHICAGO’S LEGAL COMMUNITY FOR 164 YEARS | CHICAGOLAWBULLETIN.COM

VOLUME 165, NO. 150 Tarantino’s latest takes a more subdued approach

“Once Upon a Time … in evolved. Loyal as Jeeves and yet protective and servile, def - Hollywood” is the ninth film superior in every measure of erential to the Hollywood by director Quentin Taran - manly character, the unflap - class hierarchy. tino, who has declared that pable Cliff is now Rick’s driver, In Tarantino’s Thurberish his 10th film will be his last. handyman and barstool psy - fantasies of power, there must Styled as a fable, the movie chologist. be humiliation and there is is a dreamy reflection on The real Charles Manson resonance of this trope in his 1960s TV, spaghetti westerns was a music industry hanger- casting two of the biggest and old Hollywood landmarks on, lurking in its fringes, des - male stars in Hollywood as a and watering holes. perate to break in. Record lackey and invertebrate and Joan Didion famously wrote producer Terry Melcher (son portraying Bruce Lee (Mike that the 1960s ended in Los of Doris Day) and his girl - REBECCA L. FORD Moh) as a preening buffoon. Angeles on Aug. 9, 1969, with friend Candice Bergen lived at But the primary violence the brutal murder of pregnant the Cielo Drive house before and ultimate humiliation in actress Sharon Tate, who Tate and Polanski. REBECCA L. FORD is counsel at the film is reserved for along with four others was A vengeful Manson, who Scharf Banks Marmor LLC, and women, including the stabbed to death in her home had been snubbed by Melcher concentrates her practice on shrewish wife Cliff is rumored by the followers of cult leader and Brian Wilson of the Beach complex litigation, compliance, to have murdered. Charles Manson. Boys, instructed his followers board governance and “Once Upon a Time … in In “Once Upon a Time … in — a “family” of young women specialized employment issues. Hollywood” is not a master - Hollywood,” Tate (Margot “hippies” who lived with him She is the former executive vice piece like “Pulp Fiction.” Robbie) and her husband on the decrepit Spahn Movie president for litigation and Ruminative and musing, it is a director Roman Polanski Ranch — to kill everyone in intellectual property at MGM. look back on the former (Rafal Zawierucha) rent the the house. She can be reached at movie wunderkind, ex-video Cielo Drive home next door In the movie, an inebriated [email protected]. store clerk and cinematic to Rick Dalton (Leonardo Rick drifts in his pool, listen - savant’s major influences — DiCaprio), a former TV-west - ing to music blasting through while we wait for the worst to the product of a middle-aged ern headliner on the down - his headphones on the fateful happen. director poised to stamp “fin” side of his career who looks to night when the Mansons Robbie’s Sharon Tate is pre - on his filmic oeuvre, who is reinvent himself by making come calling. sented as a nearly silent god - taking stock of the popular spaghetti westerns in Italy. Because we know the terri - dess ideal. She’s unattainable culture that formed him. Rick is attended by his loyal ble fate of the real Sharon by Rick for sure, but also The subdued tone of this longtime stunt double, Cliff Tate, Tarantino can take his Steve McQueen (Damian penultimate film feels like a Booth (Brad Pitt). As Rick’s time to build tension by Lewis). setup. One can only imagine career has dwindled, the meandering through a trivia Pitt’s Cliff is a nerd’s dream that No. 10 will take Tarantino men’s relationship has maze of ’60s-era Los Angeles friend — the epitome of cool, out with a bang.