True Romance is by far one of my favourite films and one of my favourite Tarantino films that he didn't direct, the story is a little hard to explain but it revolves around a guy who throughout his life has been pretty lonely until one night he meets a girl who changes the course of his life forever with the domino effect truly being in place. I have to say True Romance is truly unique in its storytelling as you can stop thinking about the characters and you do find yourself rooting for this young couple to beat all the odds.
The cast is excellent in this film, Christian Slater (Clarence Worley) gives one of his best performances, Patricia Arquette (Alabama Whitman) plays this damaged character perfectly but also has her moments of badassery and the little parts in between are what makes this film special as Christopher Walken (Vincenzo Coccotti), Gary Oldman (Drexl Spivey), Chris Penn (Nicky Dimes) and Dennis Hopper (Clifford Worley) truly give great performances for the few moments they are in this film.
If you love Tarantino then this film will not disappoint as it has his signature action, dialogue and humour all sprinkled in between this beautifully directed Tony Scott film that I cannot recommend enough. I'm sure a lot of people like me didn't like this film at first but give it a second chance and I promise you will like it more with age/time.
Review by TheFOMOGuyBlockedParent2018-01-31T14:39:29Z
If I have to compare True romance with other Tarantino scripts, then I would say that this is his weakest. Even Death proof although a weaker movie than this had a semi-solid script. This one just had one sequence after another with the end having no option but to collate everything just for the sake of a climax. In fact, it felt like some of the plot points are introduced so that they can be added for the final sequence. Just feels forced.
The movie's best part is the beginning 20-30 minutes where we are introduced to the 'innocent' protagonists and get acquainted with their crude environment. Kudos to Tarantino for shaping the main characters in ways which make them look like a ray of sunshine in a room full of devil's snare. You want to stay with them and get to know them more. Which is where my main problem with the movie lies. I hated every time that the script decided to plot some elaborate obstacle for the mains. Not that they didn't need any but I would rather have them show more scenes of the protagonists struggling than some detail about where the problem really lies. An exception obviously being the Walken-Hopper scene. That is premium Tarantino. It doesn't get tastier than that. That scene not only works as something that would get better if you're chomping on double-sized caramel popcorn, but also from a technical standpoint. The camerawork, the editing going hand in hand with the dialogues, the acting themselves deserve a write-up on their own.
One more problem with the movie is lack of importance given to Arquette's character Alabama, given that she's the best thing about the movie. In fact, after the first 30 minutes or so, she gets reduced to a side character just as the romance takes a backseat. Her scene with Gandolfini felt like something that they added later just to make her character have something to do in the latter half. Doesn't add anything to the movie. Brilliant scene though. Not giving spoilers, but the setup of the scene itself is a writer's haven. And Arquette and Gandolfini executing the scene surely serves up as an acting school study material.
So yes, I liked the movie for what it is and yes there are tropes in the movie that I have issues with. But, I can't deny the fact that the Tarantino fan inside me is trying to come up for air when I'm writing about the imperfections. There is so much to like about this movie and I haven't even started talking about....oh shoot....Tony Scott is amazing. There are scripts that don't need a good director to make them work (Steve Jobs). True romance is not one of them. Scott takes this script and makes it act out like a charm. The Oldman scene with Slater is an example of how good direction can uplift a script.
Conclusion: There are plot points in TR which stick out like a sore thumb (Everything with Chris Penn felt forced). But,TR works when it's about the main characters and not the external intricacies. In a way it needed more romance and less reality(True). But the ace writing saves even the scenes which do not serve much to the actual theme of the movie. And also, one has to agree that everything is awesome when there's more Patricia!!!