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The Dominator reviews

True Romance

Distributed by
Warner Home Video

Cert: 18
Running time: 114 minutes
Year: 1995
Cat.no: S013158
Released: 8th September 1997
Sound: Dolby Surround
Widescreen: 2.35:1 (Panavision)
Price: £12.99
Extras: Original Theatrical Trailer

Director:

Crimson Tide, Top Gun, The Fan, The Last Boy Scout, Beverly Hills Cop 2, Days of Thunder, The Hunger

Producer:

Samuel Hadida, Steve Perry, Bill Unger

Screenplay:

Quentin Tarantino

Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs

Music:

Hans Zimmer

Cast:

Clarence Worley : Christian Slater (Broken Arrow, Interview with the Vampire, Pump Up The Volume, Heathers, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Untamed Heart, Young Guns 2, Murder in the First, Kuffs, Mobsters)
Alabama Whitman : Patricia Arquette (Lost Highway, Beyond Rangoon, Ed Wood)
Clifford Worley : Dennis Hopper (Easy Rider, Speed)
Mentor : Val Kilmer (The Saint, Batman Forever)
Drexl Spivey : Gary Oldman (Leon, The Fifth Element, Air Force One)
Floyd : Brad Pitt (Seven, The Devil's Own)
Vincenzo Coccotti : Christopher Walken (Nick of Time, Things To Do In Denver When You're Dead)
Elliot Blitzer : Bronson Pinchot (Beverly Hills Cop 1 and 3, Blame It On The Bellboy, Perfect Strangers (TV))
Big Don : Samuel L Jackson (Pulp Fiction, Long Kiss Goodnight)
Dick Ritchie : Michael Rapaport (Mighty Aphrodite, Higher Learning)
Lee Donowitz : Saul Rubinek (And The Band Played On, Death Wish 5)
Virgil : James Gandolfini (Angie, Terminal Velocity)
Nicky Dimes : Christopher Penn (Reservoir Dogs, Mobsters, Pale Rider, Mulholland Falls, Short Cuts, To Wong Foo Thanks For Everything Julie Newmar)
Cody Nicholson : Tom Sizemore (Heat, Natural Born Killers)

The title, True Romance, gives little indication to what this film is about. Clarence (Christian Slater) is a loner trying to enjoy his birthday, which he starts off in a bar trying to pick up a girl with the chat-up line that he's "not a fag" but if he really had to fuck a guy, if his life depended on it...he'd fuck Elvis. She reciprocates, so at least they've got something in common. However, she doesn't want to entertain his idea of going to the cinema to watch three kung fu movies each starring Sonny Cheeba.

So, he takes himself there where he meets up with local call-girl Alabama, (Patricia Arquette), they hit it off, and then are destined to spend their life together, although first they've a few obstacles to overcome...

Alabama left all her clothes at her pimp's house so Clarence has to get them. Alabama's pimp, Drexl (a superb cameo from Gary Oldman) is less than pleased to see him, especially when he tries to be clever - cue big fight scene between the two in which Clarence eventually makes his escape, but when he gets home he realises he's been given the wrong bag. Instead of the one with Alabama's clothes, he's got the one with half-a-million dollars worth of pure, uncut cocaine.

He's now got to find a way of getting rid of the cocaine as quick as possible, but while making a bit of money out of it. On his side he's got his father, Dennis Hopper, his best friend Dick Ritchie - a struggling actor whose always looking for his big break in Hollywood, his mentor (Val Kilmer), who shows up as Elvis from time to time just as Clarence needs his help, and who also co-starred in Tony Scott's Top Gun.

On his tail are mafia man Vincenzo Coccotti (Christopher Walken) whose showdown scene with Hopper has to be seen to be believed, and hitman Virgil (James Gandolfini). The cast is rounded out with plenty of cameos from Brad Pitt as Dick's flatmate, Bronson Pinchot as the man who Clarence wants to set up a meet with the director of Vietnam films, Lee Donowitz (Saul Rubinek) whose just made the acclaimed, "Coming Home in a Bodybag" and is working on the sequel, "Bodybags 2". Samuel L Jackson is one of Drexl's right-hand men, and the two main cops on the case are Christopher Penn and Tom Sizemore.

The film is a tour-de-force from start to finish and the pace never lets up for a second. This was something I was pleased to discover given that Tony Scott, brother of Ridley Scott, is one of my favourite action directors who always knows the best way of filling a Panavision frame. His films have never been short of finding major A-list stars to participate. The best-known one include the 1986 Tom Cruise-starrer Top Gun, 1992's Last Boy Scout with Bruce Willis, 1995's submarine thriller Crimson Tide with Gene Hackman and Denzel Washington, and this year's The Fan with Robert De Niro and Wesley Snipes.

True Romance goes one further with a cast to die for as listed above with a high number of cameos, the sort you'd expect to find in an Oliver Stone film.

The script was written a number of years ago by the then-unknown Quentin Tarantino. It was one of his first scripts, and was ignored at the time until he hit the big-time with Reservoir Dogs. Then, those in the film business began to snap up his old scripts including this one and that for Natural Born Killers which Oliver Stone rewrote to such a degree that Tarantino demanded his name was removed from the credits.

Tarantino's tale doesn't end there...

In Reservoir Dogs, Christopher Penn played Nice Guy Eddie, and as Mr. White (Harvey Keitel) was interviewed by Joe, he was asked how Alabama was. Does this mean that in later life Clarence grows up to be Mr. White?
Anyone who's seen Terrence Malick's Badlands will recognise the similar theme tune used in this film, as well as the intro and outro voice-overs from Patricia Arquette sounding like those done by Sissy Spacek in that film, and the basic premise of two unlikely characters teaming up for a lifetime living on the wild side of life.
Tarantino also worked as a "script doctor", making uncredited alterations to the script on Tony Scott's Crimson Tide.
Tarantino also paid homage to another of Tony Scott's films at a party scene in 1994's Sleep With Me in which he played a wacky guest who discussed with one of the main cast, at some length, the homosexual context within Top Gun between the characters of Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer about how they each enthused, "You can ride my tail... ANYTIME!".

The picture and sound quality of this release are second to none, which is a delight. Any of Tony Scott's films should only be seen in widescreen as the regular pan-and-scan format does not do them justice, taking away half of the picture, making them look cramped, giving the wrong impression of a badly-made film.

Colourful scenes are shown at their best in this version, the soundtrack and the gunshots pump out of the speakers with great regularity, and whereas Reservoir Dogs had a 4-way shootout at the end, True Romance's is more like a 24-way shootout. I can't see how anyone made sense of the whole thing in anything other than the correct widescreen ratio.

This version of the film is identical to the UK cinema release which, as far as I know, is also the same as the US R-rated version played in cinemas and out on video over there. However, an unrated director's cut is available on NTSC Laserdisc in the US, which beefs up Alabama's character a bit. She gets to exact her revenge on hitman Virgil far more strongly, hitting him on the head with the toilet cistern's lid, and later shooting him with the shotgun, far more times than the once each in this version. Also, and this is a slight spoiler, she becomes the cause of cop Chris Penn's demise rather than one of the non-English-speaking henchmen to Lee Donowitz.

Overall, if you don't have laserdisc player and have only seen this film in its full-screen format on video, you have missed out on the full impact of one of the 1990's greatest tributes to pop-culture. And, for a version that was only previously available in a 20quid box-set, just £12.99 secures your guaranteed package of a solid two hours entertainment including the original theatrical trailer.

Film : 5/5
Picture : 5/5
Sound : 5/5

Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 1997.

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