Plot Details: This opinion reveals major details about the movie's plot.
There's no doubting it: Tony Scott's 1993 film True Romance is the director at his finest hour. Much like the film's main protagonists, it's as if fate brought film maestros Quentin Tarantino & Tony Scott together for this deliriously energetic film.
Christian Slater gives a slick performance as Detroit citizen (& geek extraordinaire) Clarence Worley, a comic book store employee with a serious hard-on for Elvis Presley & Sonny Chiba kung-fu flicks. While attending a Sonny Chiba matinee marathon for his birthday one evening, fate comes knocking at his door in the form of an outgoing blond named Alabama Whitman (Patricia Arquette). After a romantic fling, Alabama comes clean with Clarence that she's a call-girl who was hired for his birthday. Though the real eyebrow raiser for Clarence is when Alabama pours her heart out about being monogamous & how she's fallen in love with Clarence.
One shotgun wedding later though Clarence & Alabama are happy newlyweds fresh on their way to a new life. Clarence, however, has one small chip on his shoulder: he has to retrieve Alabama's belongings from her dreadlocked, abusive pimp & is seething at an opportunity to teach his scuzzy a** some manners.
Clarence bites off a little more than he can chew when he returns Alabama's suitcase only to discover it's loaded with pure uncut cocaine. Seeing a once in a lifetime chance & not having a penchant for selling narcotics, Clarence calls up his aspiring actor bud Dick Ritchie (Michael Rapaport) in L.A. in hopes of him utilizing his Hollywood contacts to help sell the product. Seems like a sure shot deal, right? If only it were that simple. Turns out both the Sicilian Mafia & the cops are hot on the trail of our criminal lovers.
The huge array of stars assembled for True Romance left me speechless, & although some have mere cameos, each character pulls off their part with finesse, giving the film a very spunky attitude (& not one flimsy performance). Along with the aforementioned, the following are some of the stars of True Romance:
Christopher Walken: Practically a bonafied psycho since day one, veteran actor Walken plays Don Vincenzo Coccotti, a Sicilian Mafia don with a personal vendetta against Clarence & Alabama for hot-tailing off with the cocaine. More recently starred in Scott's 2004 thriller Man On Fire.
Dennis Hopper: Clifford Worley, Clarence's slightly estranged police officer father who lives in a trailer. Clarence's old man pulls a major no-no from the Hollywood Handbook: offending Christopher Walken. Sigh, when will people learn?
Gary Oldman: Drexl Spivey, Alabama's crass bathrobe wearing, Rastafarian-looking pimp (only Oldman could ingeniously perfect a role like this).
James Gandolfini: One of many roles before he struck uber-fame on The Sopranos, Gandolfini plays Virgil, a (surprise!) brutish gangster of Don Coccotti. Also starred in Scott's 1995 film Crimson Tide.
Brad Pitt: Inserted as a dab of comic relief, Pitt plays the grungy Floyd, Dick's couch potato pothead roommate (he makes a bong out of a plastic Honeycomb Bear).
Chris Penn & Tom Sizemore: as Nicky Dimes & Cody Nicholson, two gusto-filled L.A. detectives attempting to bust everyone involved with Clarence's cocaine deal. Sizemore co-starred in Scott's 1998 paranoia thriller Enemy of the State.
Saul Rubinek: as Lee Donowitz, a hotshot movie producer who's interest is sparked by Clarence's cocaine proposition.
Val Kilmer: as (get this) Elvis Presley. The fanatical Clarence's obsession of "The King" is so deeply engrained in his psyche that he appears occasionally to counsel Clarence & complement him on his coolness. Kilmer teams with Scott once again after 1986's "guy flick" Top Gun.
Samuel L. Jackson: as small-time drug dealer Big Don, whose very brief cameo is cut short by Drexl's pump shotgun.
Bronson Pinchot: Who could forget Cousin Balki from T.V.'s Perfect Strangers? Here he plays Lee Donowitz's jittery, nervous wreck associate & Dick's L.A. contact.
The pop culture/grindhouse absorbed sponge that is visionary Quentin Tarantino's mind has been thoroughly squeezed dry into his quirky script (his first actually). Tarnatino slips in influential references to Elvis Presley, Charles Bronson & Steve McQueen & also gives a tributary nod to such directors as John Woo (Clarence & Alabama watching the blood-spattered finale to A Better Tomorrow II on the boob tube) & Michael Campus (the blacksploitation flick The Mack playing on Drexl's T.V. when Clarence pays him a visit).
And finally Tony Scott, whose snazzy yet controlled directing has a style all its own & files him into the category of one of the most prolific action directors in the business, as well as being equally gifted as his big brother Ridley Scott.
And in closing...: True Romance is Tony Scott's most monolithic film ever. Period. I highly recommend the special two-disc unrated director's edition of this film, as it has the works (deleted/additional scenes, an alternate ending, commentaries, trailers, etc.). True Romance= a true classic.
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.