...a study in all-out, over-the-top bloodshed, irony, tenderness, and laughs.
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Think of "True Romance" as a cousin to "Reservoir Dogs" and a prequel to "Pulp Fiction." Quentin Tarantino wrote all three movies in a brief spurt of creative energy hardly equalled in Hollywood history, "True Romance" preceding its more illustrious "Pulp Fiction" successor by a year or so but containing much the same mixture of black humor, violence, romance, and action.
I've always liked this 1993 picture but never really thought of it as anything more than mildly entertaining, so I was a little surprised to see it issued in a two-disc, Special Edition, Unrated Director's Cut. I was especially interested to see it appear in Warner Brothers' first wave of special-edition sets among such august company as "Amadeus," "Unforgiven," Singin' in the Rain," and "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." But I suppose with the deluxe-edition releases of "Reservoir Dogs," "Pulp Fiction," and "Jackie Brown" by Artisan and Buena Vista, Warners figured they'd better jump on the Tarantino bandwagon, too. Can a Special Deluxe Uncensored Uncut Connoisseurs' Multi-Disc Director's Edition of "From Dusk Till Dawn" be too far behind?
"True Romance," directed by Tony Scott ("Top Gun," "Days of Thunder," "Crimson Tide"), is a drug picture, a chase picture, a gangster picture, and a wacky, turbulent romantic-partners-in-crime picture all at once. It's kind of a "Bonnie and Clyde" on speed. For a more detailed account of the plot and for another slant on the film's merits, I direct your attention to the review of the film's regular-edition DVD release by my associate, Tim Raynor, who liked the movie even more than I did.
Meanwhile, we have in "True Romance" a study in all-out, over-the-top bloodshed, irony, tenderness, and laughs. It may disgust some viewers and delight others, but there's hardly any question it's an original of its kind. Indeed, there aren't even many of its kind. Whatever kind that is.
The plot involves a young couple who meet in a movie theater and fall in love, the first of many cinematic references that abound in the story. Remember, this is a Tarantino film. A movie theater is a perfect place to begin the make-believe, surreal, action-packed romantic adventure to follow. No sooner do they fall in love than they marry, come into possession of a suitcase full of cocaine, get chased by mobsters, run into murder and mayhem, and wind up in a climactic confrontation that is a wonderfully sustained sequence of riotous havoc, hyperbole, and hilarity. Just a little something for everybody. And like Tarantino's other films, the sum of the parts adds up to far less than the parts themselves. His films are a series of set pieces, each episode a world of its own, and we come away remembering favorite bits or pieces.
The movie's strong suit is its cast, and what a cast it is! Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette head an all-star unit as the lovers, Clarence Worley and Alabama Whitman, their tumultuous, whirlwind relationship sweet, amusing, and touching. These are the gentlest of people, yet they're tough as nails, too, their ardor poignant amid the most devastating carnage. Remember, this is a Tarantino film.
The supporting players include Dennis Hopper as Clarence's father, one of Hopper's most "normal" roles of his career, a former cop trying desperately to protect his son from the mob. His conversation with Christopher Walken (playing a typically reptilian Walken villain, Don Vincenzo Coccoti), presages Walken's own monologue in "Pulp Fiction," and it's almost as riveting and funny in its own twisted way. Then there's Val Kilmer as Elvis, an imaginary Elvis, actually, who advises Clarence on matters of action and deportment. Gary Oldman plays Drexel Spivey, a patented Oldman heavy--slimy, vicious, violent, totally repellent; a white pimp who thinks he's black. Michael Rapaport is Dick Ritchie, a friend of Clarence and wannabe actor in Hollywood whom Clarence goes to for help. Brad Pitt is Dick's roommate, a dedicated druggie who's always in a daze. James Gandolfini is Virgil, a goon, a hit man for the mob, who makes the mistake of trying to intimidate poor, little, defenseless Alabama. Samuel L. Jackson turns up for a remarkable moment as a drug dealer with a foul mouth. Bronson Pinchot plays Elliot Blitzer, another would-be actor and a friend to a big-time producer. And Saul Rubinek plays the producer, Lee Donowitz, as a coke-snorting reprobate. Although these supporting characters are only on the screen for a brief time, they make an indelible impression on the viewer.
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