Runtime: 118 minutes
Directed by: Tony Scott
Starring: Christian Slater, Patricia Arquette, many familiar faces in smaller roles
From: Morgan Creek
In my first of two reviews to be posted today, I talk about a film that should have been revisited long ago:
Undoubtedly a movie written by Tarantino & (an uncredited) Roger Avary. Of course, True Romance was tackled by me before; however, this was long before I joined Letterboxd almost 12 (!) years ago. Yes, I remembered how profane it was; that didn’t seem to bother me then and now, I’d prefer less F-bombs but that’s something which I’ve grown tired of in recent years. What I didn’t remember: Bob & Harvey Weinstein were two of the executive producers. That played no part in my rating of a movie tackled on Prime before it leaves the free (to me) status at the end of the year.
The opening scene is Clarence Worley talking to a random blonde in a dive bar, where he first mentions how sexy Elvis was in Jailhouse Rock, then praises Sonny Chiba as the best, then goes to a theatrical showing of Chiba’s three Street Fighter movies. So yes, you don’t need the opening credits to determine who wrote the script. At that screening, Worley meets Alabama Whitman; they have a whirlwind romance and long story short, because reasons, they steal cocaine (that was stolen to begin with) and are on the run.
It's more than a QT picture directed by someone else; Tony Scott was in control and injected his expected flourishes. It’s a wild 90’s film where (for better or worse) the N word is heard plenty of times, because Tarantino. I’m able to enjoy its kinetic energy, the nice score, the cool Hans Zimmer score, some assuredly bold ideas, the great performances from leads Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette. It also has a sterling cast jam-packed full of familiar faces, some of whom have glorified cameos… but it was nice seeing them all.
Gary Oldman arguably played the most memorable character, due to the OOT nature of Drexl Spivey. However, arguably Dennis Hopper delivered the most memorable soliloquy, even though it was designed to be inflammatory and it was the capper to a great scene which also involved Christopher Walken and James Gandolfini. Naturally, not everyone cares for a vulgar film full of profanity, scenes of graphic violence and yeah, witnessing a woman brutally beat up. I’m sure that butthead woman on Letterboxd who made a dumb man-hating list that went viral on Twitter… this fool must hate True Romance because “it’s a movie that men like.”
Even if you’re not an extremist psychopath, people can be turned off by a movie such as True Romance. That said, there are many that still can enjoy a brash, aggressive movie w/90’s sheen and if you enjoy the director and/or especially the screenwriters, there’s a good chance you’ll either enjoy or still enjoy the adventures of Clarence & Alabama Worley. The Hopper & Walken scene isn’t the only tremendous scene; there’s at least two more, including the bravura climax.
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