Um Amor e Uma 45

Writer / director C.M. Talkington doesn't go about trying to reinvent the wheel when it comes to "lovers on the lam" cinema. He merely tells a decent, straightforward story (albeit with some pretentious narration), with the usual amount of sex and violence, as well as humour, style, and some irreverence. The main hook is that the couple at the centre of this tale are not inherently vicious, violent people; they merely resort to it when forced into a corner.

Hell, our main protagonist, "Watty" Watts (handsome Gil Bellows) is a veteran robber who regularly uses guns that AREN'T loaded, in an effort to avoid bloodshed. But he has a problem because he still associates with a fellow ex-con named Billy Mack (a memorable Rory Cochrane), an utter psychopath with an itchy trigger finger. They attempt a robbery, it goes bad, and "Watty" flees with his gal Starlene (the enchanting Renee Zellweger); Billy, a pair of loan sharks (Jeffrey Combs, Jace Alexander), and the law pursue them.

"Love and a .45" is an amusing, visceral modern crime thriller with some fun touches. It acknowledges the debt that all movies of its kind owe to the granddaddy of them all, "Bonnie and Clyde". It also seems influenced by Tarantino, but in truth this was filmed *before* "Natural Born Killers", to which people often compare this one. It wouldn't work quite as well if we didn't like the two main characters to some degree, and "Watty" and Starlene make for a pretty engaging coouple. Granted, he does get annoyed with her towards the end, since it's clear she's enjoying her status as a "celebrity", and sometimes courts trouble.

The whole cast is great in this thing; it's too bad that Bellows and Cochrane never became bigger stars (of course, we all know that Zellweger went on to bigger things). They're supported by a variety of familiar faces. Peter Fonda is a hoot, well cast as a modern hippie who now has to speak using one of those voice generators. Michael Bowen, Jack Nance, Ann Wedgeworth, Wiley Wiggins, and Charlotte Ross round out the cast. It's particularly fun to see Combs outside the horror genre and delivering a flamboyant, priceless performance.

Aided and abetted by its soundtrack, "Love and a .45" is worth a look for those movie lovers who seek out efforts like this that never quite got their due.

Seven out of 10.

I must admit, I was pleasantly surprised by this film. All I'd heard prior to seeing it was that it featured the world's first celluloid skull tattoo (it does, but that's another story). After seeing it, I highly recommend it to fans of the crime/road trip genre.

Gil Bellows and Renee Zellweger are Texas lovers in trouble with the law after killing some cops after him for a robbery/murder. Rory Cochrane, as his crazed ex-partner, follows the two to Mexico. The trip south of the border comprises most of the movie, and what a trip it is. Co-starring are Jeffrey Combs, excellent in a non-horror role, and Peter Fonda as --what else?-- a burn-out. The mostly rockabilly soundtrack is very good.

For the genre I thought it was pretty good.

It's not so much a Tarentino ripoff, as has been suggested, as another in a long line of White Trash on the Road movies which started back with Bonnie & Clyde & Easy Rider and continues with movies like Freeway, Natural Born Killers etc.

The characters were great. They're supposed to be overdrawn and the balance between the main characters bad deeds and that piece of goodness they have that no one else in the film possess was struck just right.

Rightly so Renee Zellweger has built a career since this but I'm surprised that the Director, CM Talkington went nowhere from here and the lead Gil Bellows (who is charming here) has had little success either.

And who would have thought that Creepy would go on to direct a ton of TV shows!

After seeing this movie again today and thinking back at the time when i first watch it on VHS back in 95 ,do i realize it is part guilty of me wanted to try out dope for the first time!!(gladly kicked that habit). This is a classic road movie with the right Tarrantino feel . Its about two sweethearts on the run from the law & some creepy speed freaks after the two companions Watty Watts(Gill Bellows)and Billy Mack Black(Rory Cochrane) attending in a robbery gone bad. Good entertainment and good Texacan dialogs . It clearly an underestimated movie that should get much more credit that it has received . This is also one of Renée Zellweger first major movie role.

I saw this movie late one night and was pleasantly surprised at how very good it was. Of course, it lacked in certain areas, and could have been better developed but I believe that if the budget was better, it would have succeeded.

This movie has a decent plot, really well-developed characters and very creative screen shots. I recommend this movie to anyone who is interested in Tarantino's style but by a different director. Definitely a cult classic.