17/03/2012: True Romance

"People have  asked me: 'So would you ever do a romance movie?' like that's so not what I would do. 'Well, I did a romantic movie, True Romance.' 'No, no, I mean like a real romantic movie'. 'Well that is a real romantic movie.' 'No, like one without violence?' 'Well, there'll be a lot of things in any movie I do that will be contradictory, but anybody's who's a fan of the movie will tell you, the title - True Romance - is not ironic... this is True Romance." - Quentin Tarantino


  Quentin Tarantino is one of my favourite filmmakers, which is why I decided to watch his first three films this weekend. I had never seen True Romance, but I will now happily tell you it is one of my favourite movies of all time. I had heard about it a few times recently, with high praise, and when I saw the Two-Disc Special Edition I picked it up, unaware of the greatness I  held in my hands.

Quentin Tarantino, in order to raise funds for his other works, actually sold the script to Tony Scott, the director of Top Gun. But while Tarantino would not direct, the entire film screams his name, bearing most of his trademarks. Tony Scott however brought a lot to the table however. While Tarantino struggled with funding and support for Reservoir Dogs, Scott was able to make True Romance into a major big screen film, featuring famous actors, a 13 million dollar budget, and all of his experience.

There are two major notable changes which Scott made to Tarantino's script. First, he removed Tarantino's trademark non-linear style of story telling. While this is one of the most unique aspects of Tarantino's other works, I think that the linear storyline may have been the better choice for True Romance, instead of playing the jigsaw puzzle, we watch everything develop falling in love with the characters every step of the way. There is actually, an unofficial version of True Romance, called The Tarantino Cut, which uses the numerous deleted extended scenes. and alternate ending to create the non-linear version true to the original script. I will definetly be checking this out in a couple months.

If only theaters were like this one these days.

While there is a lot of discussion about what the movie might have been, True Romance, unlike most movies so discussed is in fact an amazing film and now, one of my favourites. I can't remember the last time, I spent the entire movie, almost every scene, smiling happily or watching mouth open and eyes wide at what played out. I have always been a fan of long movies, feeling cheated with an hour and a half. True Romance runs for two hours, not a minute of it to long or disappointing.

The film is about the love story of Clarence and Alabama, who meet up one night and fall madly in love. Sounds like a romance movie doesn't it. Clarence and Alabama get married a couple days later, after stealing half a million dollars of cocaine from her pimp and quickly drive off into the sunrise to sell it. Unfortunately the
drug dealers are hot on the newlyweds heels and will stop at nothing to reclaim it. Certainly True Romance contains all of Tarantino's trademark violence and ruthlessness, but find me someone who, at the end, still questions whether or not Alabama and Clarence truly loved each other.

Hi. How are you? My name's Elliot, and I'm with the Cub Scouts of America. We're... we're selling uncut cocaine to get to the jamboree.

The second major change I forgot to mention earlier is of course tony Scott's ending which differed from Tarantino's, I won't ruin it, but Scott was the right choice for his version of True Romance, and Tarantino agrees. I won't ruin it however.

When it comes to movies that are all about the characters and plot, and not the explosions and special effects, (don't worry TR has plenty of action), you need a good cast to pull it off. Christian Slater plays Clarence, giving the best performance of his career. Patricia Arquette plays Alabama and does it perfectly, both of them creating characters you love and hope for the whole movie. To complement them, is an amazing cast, almost all of them recognizable. Val Kilmer, whose face you never never see, plays Clarence's mentor (Elvis), Gary Oldman brings the drug dealer Drexel to life, Brad Pitt makes his appearance, choosing to be a stoner of a roomate, and Dennis Hopper and Christopher Walken lead in one of the best scenes. Samuel L. Jackson, also plays a small role, and even Conchata Ferrell, (Berta from 2.5 Men) is instantly recognizable.

Drexel, is Alabama's lamp swinging, thinks he's African-American, pimp.

True Romance, is truly a great and one of my favourite movies. I would recommend it to anyone, and the next time you girlfriend or wife wants to watch a romantic movie pick up True Romance. From what I've read, most women aren't disappointed, True Romance features exactly that. True Romance.

Link:
True Romance IMDB