True Romance Chad'z rating: **1/2 (out of 4 = OK) 1993, R, 116 minutes [1 hour, 56 minutes] [crime/satire] starring: Christian Slater (Clarence Worley), Patricia Arquette (Alabama Worley), Dennis Hopper (Clifford Worley), Michael Rapaport (Dick Richie), produced by Bill Unger, Steve Perry, Samuel Hadida, written by Quentin Tarantino, directed by Tony Scott.
The appeal of "True Romance" is that it has no appeal. Its offbeat nature gives the film its hook, but the motions it goes through often become overwhelming.
We meet Clarence (Slater), who isn't your typical movie hero because he's... well... a dork. He works in a comic book store, watches kung-fu movies, and talks to Elvis in his fantasies. When he meets a woman named Alabama (Arquette) at a kung-fu triple feature, the two really hit it off. It's interesting to watch these two people who are so different seem so right together. When Clarence finds out is a hooker, he's doesn't get mad because he had such a good time with her. Although there seems to be detail here, we really don't get to know the characters that well. The story is told in a manner that makes for many inferences and seems a little distant.
Somehow the two fall in love and get married. But Clarence is obsessed; he convinces himself he must get "revenge" on Alabama's pimp, but for what reason? And so the film starts to become standard in plot, but not so in script. For example, when Clarence confronts Alabama's pimp a scene of fantastic violence ensues, but he doesn't win. In fact, the nasty villains "kick him while he's down" by making fun of his driver's license!
The real adventure begins as Clarence and Alabama head out to Hollywood hoping to sell $5 million in cocaine that Clarence accidentally stole when fleeing the scene. Soon a complicated and strange string of events start to unfold involving Clarence and Alabama's cross-country trip to Hollywood not knowing the mob is on their tail. More gratuitous violence ensues, and eventually the film's attempt at being a serious crime story seems like just too much to swallow.
Clarence meets his friend Dick Richie (Rapaport) and they set up a deal to sell the coke. This enables the film to incorporate some good Hollywood satire, but what we get here isn't so much satire as it is just surrealism. Yes, it is funny at times, but it's hard to tell what's important in terms of plot, not to mention the fact the characters aren't very likable, thus it's hard to care about where the story is going. The situation comes to a head when three different parties all end up in the same room, guns blazing, fighting over the cocaine. Guess who survives?
"True Romance" could have been a better film had it not been bogged down by its weird satire. The absence of a hook is the hook, but that doesn't necessarily make for superb filmmaking.
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E-mail:ChadPolenz@aol.com (C)1997 Chad Polenz
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