So this is a Quentin Tarantino movie about ’70s era Hollywood, but it actually feels more like a Robert Altman thing.

Because fundamentally there’s not much of a plot here, but there is a big cast of characters who all go about their mostly independent stories, and only sorta intertwine here and there. And if you’re expecting it to all come together like Pulp Fiction, it feels kinda disappointing in the end when it doesn’t; but if you’re sorta leaning into the Nashville style vibe, well, okay, then it’s a fine exemplar of what it is.

You’ve got Leonardo DiCaprio as a slightly-over-the-hill actor with a drinking problem; you’ve got Brad Pitt as a hilariously implausible omnicompetent bad-ass stuntman (an early scene shows him beating up Bruce Lee to kind of establish his character); you’ve got Margot Robbie as a young and optimistic Sharon Tate; Dakota Fanning as Squeaky Fromme; and honestly you’ve probably already got some idea about how this is going to play out just from that partial list of characters.

It’s a fun movie. Sure, it rambles around, but it’s always amiable enough as it does so. With the exception of one notable scene, this isn’t Tarantino in “hyper-violent sadism” mode, so it’s not nearly as oppressive as something like The Hateful Eight. I’m not as much a fan of Old Hollywood as Tarantino very evidently is, and I’m sure I missed a hundred references and side characters and whatever else, but I still enjoyed it. Lightly recommended.