La Fuga

True Romance is the work of two men, known for making movies (as TBS would say) for guys who like movies, and have one of the pick of the litter in the genre from the early to mid nineties. Quentin Tarantino sold his script to fund Reservoir Dogs, and Tony Scott (Top Gun) got picked up to direct. Some have complained that Tarantino should've directed this film, that it's so much his (which I agree with considering the story of the film was taken from his 1987 experimental film My Best Friend's Birthday, which refers to Clarence in this film going to the Sonny Chiba movies) that his own style as a director would've complimented it. It's a nice thought, though that's not what we as the audience are left with, and so with the final product there is much to admire about the style that Scott uses in the film. He films Tarantino's script (from a Roger Avary script originally) very much like he's shooting a Hollywood movie (as he knows how to with DP Jeffrey Kimball), with all the cut-aways and editing timing that is expected in a conventional crime-drama-thriller, then by hearing the snapping dialog from the script, and the cast performing them, Scott does become an important piece of making True Romance a success.

The story is a throwback to the old 'lovers on the run' formula, among others- Clarence (Christian Slater in one of his finest) is an employee in a comic book store in Detroit, loves kung-fu movies and big guns and such, who gets set up unwittingly with a call girl named Alabama (Patricia Arquette). The two fall in love, and Clarence feels confident enough by a certain voice in the back of his head (provided by Val Kilmer) to go and free Alabama for good from her vile pimp and drug dealer Drexl (Gary Oldman in one of the better villain roles of the time). He does, and through a couple of accidents Clarence and Alabama wind up with millions worth in cocaine, and high-tail it to LA to sell it, as the original (mob) owners of the coke follow after, with explosive results.

For fans of the actors, in particular the supporting cast, True Romance is one of the treats of treats in modern movies, on par with Pulp Fiction's roster of know-ables: Christopher Walken as a gangster (who would've thought?), Brad Pitt as a stoner roommate, Tom Sizemore and Chris Penn as cops, a few good lines for Samuel L. Jackson, an early plum for James Gandolfini, and my personal favorite of the lot, Dennis Hopper as Clarence's ex-cop father. Another thing that makes True Romance one of the (dare I say) most accessible of Tarantino's works is that a viewer who might not know this is his work on first viewing (this was me a few years ago, sad to say) will stay tuned through the whole thing if it's on TV just because of the star power; indeed, before Oldman's Detrix is introduced into the film, TR seems to flow like it'll be a romantic drama with light overtones. All I can say is by the end of this film, you will see that good taste can prevail no matter how much bloodshed gets on the screen, or how many obstacles get in the way of love (and Elvis!).

This film is about a guy who falls in love with a hooker and marries her. What a lovely story, taking this poor miscreant off the streets and showing her that he is willing to take care of her. Of course, you know everything is going to go without a hitch. Not really, from a crazed white pimp who thinks he is black to mob types to undercover cops this couple is going to have a really hard time getting to the honeymoon. The film has lots of violence, some sex, and inexplicably Bronson Pinchot who at the time was still most known as the lovable Balki from the television show "Perfect Strangers". Well here he plays a guy who gets caught by the cops with some white powder on his nose and it is not from a doughnut. The film's best sequence to me though was the Christopher Walken and Dennis Hopper one. Great scene, I love how Hopper's character basically realizes what is going to happen to him so he does his best to insult Walken's character as a parting shot. Just wish both of them were in the movie a bit more, especially Walken who disappears from the film after this scene. I could have done without the Elvis ghost scenes, but aside from that I have a rather positive image of this movie despite the fact it is not something I typically care for.

True Romance has everything necessary to create art on celluloid. From the writing expertise of Quentin Tarantino to Tony Scott's brilliant directing to its cast of gifted actors, the movie is all that one would hope for.

Beginning in Detroit and ending in Mexico, a loner that never really made his mark on the world meets a call girl who falls as deeply in love with him as he does with her. Filled with drugs, gangsters, Hollywood and of course romance, the movie's story becomes only stronger as the movie goes on.

With exceptional performances by Dennis Hopper and Christopher Walken (the scene they share is without equal), Gary Oldman and Christian Slater, the action and violence only help to develop the plot and accentuate it's intricacies. Its superb ending has since been imitated - by Tony Scott's own Enemy of the State for one - but never as cleverly.

A must see for any movie lover.

"True Romance" is one of those few movies that has it all: Action, romance, drama and brilliant acting. Not to mention TR has an all-star cast, but many contribute their finest work in this film. Oldman, Arquette and Slater arguably give their best performances. Christopher Walken's scene is nothing short of pure brilliance. I loved him in "The Dead Zone" and "The Deer Hunter" as well as his brief appearance in "Pulp". I was happy with the ending, and I'm glad it ended the way it did. We've come to not expect that type of ending anymore. This along with numerous other reasons too long to explain here is why I truly believe "True Romance" is one of the greatest films ever made. Period.

Sometimes there are classics that one missed, even when almost everyone at the time watched them. This is one of them for me. How I didn't see this movie in the cinemas in the early 90s when I was going to the movies every week is a mystery to me, even moreso that I never saw it on VHS or TV, when it's a very famous film with some big names on both sides of the camera. Fortunately, I could rectify this mistake watching it last week in its new 4K HDR restored version projected on a big screen, and oh, boy! What a movie this one is! The 90s were the decade most obsessed with coolness since the 30s and few films lived up to be really cool then and even less now, but this early script by Tarantino and Avary (the wonderful couple) with the stylist direction of the superb Tony Scott, the brilliant soundtrack by Hans Zimmer and an unbelievable cast that throws big names without stop, not only in the leads but in every little role (including a young and powerful James Gandolfini), is one of the coolest movies of the decade and a truly deserving classic.