Quentin Tarantino is, obviously, one of the most talented and beloved writer directors working today. His movies always draw praise from both critics and audiences alike and every time a new movie of his opens it's an event, almost like a superhero movie for the highbrow crowd. His passion for movies and love of filmmaking are present in every frame of his movies, and he's one of the last true filmmakers, a dying breed in this age of computer generated sets and digital cameras. But, not all his movies are perfect, and this one is a perfect example of that, in what is probably my least favorite movie of his. This movie's sole purpose is to show us what life was like in Hollywood circa 1969. What movies were out, what series were on TV, what people ate, what music they listened to, etc... And don't get me wrong, I usually love this kind of stuff in movies, but when it's done to enhance the story, not as an almost documentary on the life of a washed up actor and his best friend/servant. When Tarantino says it took him five years to write this screenplay I can only wonder why, because it surely wasn't to develop a hell of a story, I think it was more because he didn't know what to do with the setting that he clearly wanted to use for his next movie. And that's a big surprise, because if anything Tarantino is a master on creating great scenes out of nothing, merely relying on dialogue to build tension and great performances to deliver them. His previous movie was a masterclass on that, people building tension for three hours in the same setting. But here there's nothing like that, none of his patented incredible dialogue that was his trademark in all of his previous movies. There's no tension to be found anywhere in this whole movie, and the first two hours are a total drag. The closest we get to that is a visit by the Brad Pitt character to a ranch, but even that scene has a very disappointing and predictable resolution. Having said all that, on a technical level this movie is spotless, though. The cast and performances are all very good, the production design is really incredible, having earned a very well deserved Oscar, and it's very well shot and edited. But that's not what we've come to expect from a Tarantino movie, we watch them for all that and an incredible screenplay full of unforgettable dialogue, and that's sorely missing here. I struggled a bit on how to rate this movie, if all the movie references, all the love in every frame, Pitt and DiCaprio, and mostly if the old fashioned way of making a movie (how I like it, to be honest) was enough for me to recommend it, but I guess not. This is officially the first Tarantino movie I can't recommend.