True Romance (Tony Scott, 1993): USA
Reviewed by: Collier Grimm. Viewed on DVD.
Tony Scott’s True Romance is not your average boy-meets-girl romance flick. Watching this film is like eating raw fish when you’re used to meatloaf. This is Quentin Tarantino’s writing debut, and thus it is a uniquely Tarantino-esque romance. You can guess that means non-linear storylines, obscenely humorous language, and stylistically excessive violence. Tarantino must be numb from too many viewings of obviously influential films like Bonnie and Clyde and The Wild Bunch. It doesn’t phase a single character to put 15 bullets in a complete stranger’s back. My only issue with this is I find it hard to believe that everyone in the film knows how to fire a pump-action shot gun, pistol, or machine gun. But that tends to be part of Tarantino’s charm.
True Romance boasts an all-star cast including Patricia Arquette, Christian Slater, Dennis Hopper, Val Kilmer, Brad Pitt, Christopher Walken, Samuel L. Jackson, a young James Gandolfini, and, one of my all time favorites, Gary Oldman. Slater plays Clarence Worley, an Elvis-obsessed loner who is set up with call-girl Alabama Whitman (Arquette). After a night watching old Kung Fu films and sharing a slice of pie, the two realize they are soul mates and quickly wed.
Clarence is troubled by thoughts of Alabama’s pimp, a Rasta-clad Oldman, but sets out to retrieve her things from his house. Clarence, with a pistol in tow, turns the whorehouse into a blood bath, accidentally leaving with a suitcase full of un-cut cocaine instead of Alabama’s belongings. Unknowingly, Clarence leaves behind his driver’s licensee, and soon ruthless gangsters are on his tail in search of their missing drugs. Clarence and Alabama, unaware that they are being hunted down, head to Hollywood to try and sell the drugs they’ve come upon.
This unconventional love story will have you rooting for a hooker and an Elvis impersonator by the film’s end. The ensemble cast is incredible. The Sicilian scene is pure Tarantino, but it’s hard to imagine audience reception at the time of debut. Roger Ebert gave the film mixed reviews, but said the “energy and style of the movie are exhilarating.” Pitt’s honey bear bong-toking Floyd is a never before seen side of the actor, and Pitt is in true comedic form. This isn’t your average Valentines Day renter, but you may find that blood and guts go all too well with true romance.
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