My first reaction was, "Who is the audience for this?" Manson, Helter Skelter, the Hollywood of Sharon Tate are almost in the forgotten or unknown history of anyone under 40. Will the audience pick up the subtle establishment of these historical characters? Unless they go to the theatre prepped with the significance of the dates, will they know the context of the plot. If they think this is a movie about the fading trajectory of Hollywood careers, they will find the plot very slow and plodding. If they are knowledgable enough to know the Sharon Tate's story, they may feel the weight of the inevitable hanging over the whole piece, but, even with this stellar cast and a pervading anticipation of doom, this movie spends a lot of time on nothing. Personally, I think the cheat at the end is not a good enough payoff for the 161 minutes. The acting is good enough for a 6 (fair) out of 10, but Tarantino come close to boring us to death or, worse yet, disrespecting the victims of a shocking evil. {Criminal Dramedy?}