Synopsis
Actor Rick Dalton gained fame and fortune by starring in a 1950s television Western, but is now struggling to find meaningful work in a Hollywood that he doesn’t recognize anymore. He spends most of his time drinking and palling around with Cliff Booth, his easygoing best friend and longtime stunt double. Rick also happens to live next door to Roman Polanski and Sharon Tate — the filmmaker and budding actress whose futures will forever be altered by members of the Manson Family. Quentin Tarantino’s ninth film.
My Take
It’s helpful to have an understanding of Tarantino’s mind set and his infatuation with murdered actress Sharon Tate, (this is evidenced when he co-hosted a Dean Martin film, The Wrecking Crew on TCM.) Interestingly, there is no reference to the LaBianca murders in the film. This was/is Tarantino’s fantasy world of almost revisionist histrionics and using film to project his point of view. Is there anything wrong with this? Not necessarily. It just doesn’t depict with any accuracy of the facts.
I was eight-years-old in 1969 when the Tate/LaBianca murders took place and shocked the nation. I wouldn’t have an empirical reference to the crimes until the TV mini-series Helter Skelter depicting the mass-murders would grip the nation in 1976. It featured Steve Railsback as Charles Manson, a real life creepy actor depicting a real life mass-murderer. Everyone in my neighborhood was glued to TV for the next segment of the three-hour movie.