← Back to Reviews
in
TRUE ROMANCE
Quentin Tarantino's brilliant screenplay, some eye-popping violence, and a dazzling all-star cast help make 1993's True Romance appointment movie viewing, a blistering tale of losers and dreamers and movers and shakers that leaves a lot of bodies in the wake but provides a wonderful payoff.
The film stars Christian Slater as Clarence, a movie buff obsessed with Elvis who marries a rookie call girl named Alabama (Patricia Arquette) who, upon confronting her pimp (Gary Oldman) in order to clear the air, ends up with a suitcase of cocaine that said pimp stole from someone else. Clarence and Alabama decide to drive to LA in hopes that an old friend of Clarence's (Michael Rapaport) will help Clarence sell the coke, unbeknownst to Clarence and Alabama, the real owners of the cocaine are also on their way to LA to get their coke back.
This movie envelops the viewer from the beginning, not so much by the story itself, but the way the story is told...Tarantino again proves to be a master storyteller who knows how to let a story unfold slowly, let the viewer not only get to know the characters but to get to care about them so that when they're in the thick of it, we're with Clarence and Alabama because Tarantino took the time to take us inside the relationship from the moment they met, even if it was under suspicious circumstances. A connection was made between these two characters that made us care about them immediately and, more importantly, be frightened for them when they opened that suitcase filled with cocaine.
The rest of what is presented here is window dressing to the story of Clarence and Alabama, thus the title of this film, which I never really got until this most recent viewing...this story features stomach churning violence and a lot of very unpleasant people, but these people are all part of the story of Clarence and Alabama, a contemporary romance that takes a lot of ugly and uncomfortable bumps during the unconventional journey.
Director Tony Scott, a proven artist with action scenes thanks to his work in films like Top Gun, Man on Fire, and Enemy of the State mounts some unprecedented cinematic gore here, which had to be enhanced with the presence of Tarantino on the set and you can't tell me he wasn't, because this film has Tarantino written over it...the whole look of it, the slimey characters, the unapologetic violence (the scene where Alabama gets beat up is very hard to watch), the improbable story detours...I kept having to remind myself that Tarantino didn't direct it as well.
The cast is absolutely terrific...I don't remember exactly when Christian Slater's career went south, but this was the last great performance I remember from him, he lights up the screen here in the tradition of Nicholson and De Niro. Patricia Arquette works very hard in the physically and emotionally demanding role of Alabama, a pathetic creature on the surface who has a surprising strength that she reveals at just the appropriate times. The flawless supporting cast includes Dennis Hopper (wonderful as Clarence's dad) who has a fabulous scene with mafioso Christopher Walken that is one of the film's highlights. James Gandolfini also does a star-making turn as the thug who beats up Alabama and other pertinent players in the romance include Saul Rubinek, Val Kilmer, Christopher Penn, Bronson Pinchot, and a scene stealing cameo by Brad Pitt as Rapaport's perpetually stoned roommate, Floyd. A winner that had me smiling, laughing, holding my breath, and fighting tears, right up to the finale, which will have you cheering.
Quentin Tarantino's brilliant screenplay, some eye-popping violence, and a dazzling all-star cast help make 1993's True Romance appointment movie viewing, a blistering tale of losers and dreamers and movers and shakers that leaves a lot of bodies in the wake but provides a wonderful payoff.
The film stars Christian Slater as Clarence, a movie buff obsessed with Elvis who marries a rookie call girl named Alabama (Patricia Arquette) who, upon confronting her pimp (Gary Oldman) in order to clear the air, ends up with a suitcase of cocaine that said pimp stole from someone else. Clarence and Alabama decide to drive to LA in hopes that an old friend of Clarence's (Michael Rapaport) will help Clarence sell the coke, unbeknownst to Clarence and Alabama, the real owners of the cocaine are also on their way to LA to get their coke back.
This movie envelops the viewer from the beginning, not so much by the story itself, but the way the story is told...Tarantino again proves to be a master storyteller who knows how to let a story unfold slowly, let the viewer not only get to know the characters but to get to care about them so that when they're in the thick of it, we're with Clarence and Alabama because Tarantino took the time to take us inside the relationship from the moment they met, even if it was under suspicious circumstances. A connection was made between these two characters that made us care about them immediately and, more importantly, be frightened for them when they opened that suitcase filled with cocaine.
The rest of what is presented here is window dressing to the story of Clarence and Alabama, thus the title of this film, which I never really got until this most recent viewing...this story features stomach churning violence and a lot of very unpleasant people, but these people are all part of the story of Clarence and Alabama, a contemporary romance that takes a lot of ugly and uncomfortable bumps during the unconventional journey.
Director Tony Scott, a proven artist with action scenes thanks to his work in films like Top Gun, Man on Fire, and Enemy of the State mounts some unprecedented cinematic gore here, which had to be enhanced with the presence of Tarantino on the set and you can't tell me he wasn't, because this film has Tarantino written over it...the whole look of it, the slimey characters, the unapologetic violence (the scene where Alabama gets beat up is very hard to watch), the improbable story detours...I kept having to remind myself that Tarantino didn't direct it as well.
The cast is absolutely terrific...I don't remember exactly when Christian Slater's career went south, but this was the last great performance I remember from him, he lights up the screen here in the tradition of Nicholson and De Niro. Patricia Arquette works very hard in the physically and emotionally demanding role of Alabama, a pathetic creature on the surface who has a surprising strength that she reveals at just the appropriate times. The flawless supporting cast includes Dennis Hopper (wonderful as Clarence's dad) who has a fabulous scene with mafioso Christopher Walken that is one of the film's highlights. James Gandolfini also does a star-making turn as the thug who beats up Alabama and other pertinent players in the romance include Saul Rubinek, Val Kilmer, Christopher Penn, Bronson Pinchot, and a scene stealing cameo by Brad Pitt as Rapaport's perpetually stoned roommate, Floyd. A winner that had me smiling, laughing, holding my breath, and fighting tears, right up to the finale, which will have you cheering.