True Romance (1993)

"A vibrant, grisly, gleefully amoral road movie.  Elvis Mitchell, The New York Times
"...a hip, bullet-strewn thriller...gritty, high-octane...genuinely affecting...  Find-A-Video
"Dynamite! A full-throttle blast of action and fireworks.  Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
"Daring, electrifying and original.  Rex Reed, The Observer
"...the best crime rush since "GoodFellas"...Four stars!  Susan Wloszczyna, USA Today

Editor's Note When inexperienced call girl Alabama Whitman (Patricia Arquette) is paid to seduce comic-book-nerd and Elvis fanatic Clarence Worley (Christian Slater), she doesn't expect to fall for him. But these two lost souls seem to be made for each other and quickly pledge their love, marrying at Detroit's city hall. Clarence discovers some newfound bravado and attempts to retrieve Alabama's possessions from her pimp, Drexl (Gary Oldman), who isn't exactly eager to let Alabama go. Fleeing Drexl's apartment, Clarence not only leaves a trail of bodies, but also inadvertently mistakes a suitcase of uncut cocaine for one with his wife's clothing, and the chase is on. The unlikely newlyweds head for Los Angeles hoping to sell the cocaine and make enough money to leave the country. Unfortunately, they also have to contend with the mob, yuppie drug dealers and the police. Michael Rapaport is amusing as Clarence's best friend who lives with Floyd, a stoner played by Brad Pitt. A sedate Dennis Hopper appears as Clarence's father, who ultimately faces off with mob boss Vincenzo Coccotti (Christopher Walken). Director Tony Scott (CRIMSON TIDE, ENEMY OF THE STATE) does justice to the violence and quirkiness of Quentin Tarantino's second feature film script.

	Brad Pitt
	Bronson Pinchot
	Christian Slater
	Christopher Walken
	Dennis Hopper
	Gary Oldman
	James Gandolfini
	Michael Rapaport
	Patricia Arquette
	Samuel L. Jackson
	Tom Sizemore
	Val Kilmer
	Christian Wagner - Editor
	Hans Zimmer - Original Music By
	Harvey Weinstein - Executive Producer
	James J. Murakami - Art Director
	Jeffrey L. Kimball - Cinematographer
	Michael Tronick - Editor
	Quentin Tarantino - Writer
	Roger Avary - Writer
	Steve Perry - Producer
	Tony Scott - Director

When a pair of unlikely newlyweds stumble across a cache of cocaine and try to sell it to a movie producer, the cops and the mob aren't far behind, in a darkly humorous caricature of the drug war. Billed as a "Bonnie and Clyde for the 1990s," the protagonists (Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette) are actually the most innocent characters in a film populated by thugs and hypocrites. Scripted by Quentin Tarantino, the film features a classic confrontation between veteran actors Christopher Walken and Dennis Hopper.

"If you gave me a million years to ponder, I would've never guessed that true romance and Detroit would ever go together."----Alabama (Patricia Arquette) in voice--over

"Don't condescend me, man."----Floyd (Brad Pitt)

"If there's one thing this last week has taught me, it's better to have a gun and not need it than to need a gun and not have it."----Clarence (Christian Slater)

New York Times
"...A vibrant, grisly, gleefully amoral road movie..." 09/10/1993 p.C5

Total Film
"...One of the defining, and truly enjoyable, films of the '90s." -- 5 out of 5 Stars 06/01/2000 p.106

Variety
"...Tony Scott's slick style is visually arresting....[The] entire film is an elegantly packaged affair on all levels..." 09/06/1993

Entertainment Weekly
"...Cheerfully disreputable....TRUE ROMANCE has all the tawdry surface pleasures you want from a high-style getaway caper: fast sex, ballistic violence, a cast of flamboyant goons who talk as well as they shoot..." 09/10/1993 p.48-50

Chicago Sun-Times
"...This is the kind of movie that creates its own universe, and glories in it....The energy and style of the movie are exhilarating..." 09/10/1993 p.39

ReelViews 7 of 10
"It's dangerous to live in Quentin Tarantino's world, as Clarence Worley (Christian Slater) discovers in the explosive True Romance...There's good news and bad news about True Romance. The good news is that it's written by Quentin Tarantino, the man who made a stunning splash as the writer/director of last year's Reservoir Dogs. The bad news is that he didn't direct it...Tarantino is a hot prospect now, which is good for anyone who enjoys this kind of intense, unapologetically violent thriller. True Romance is vastly inferior to Reservoir Dogs, but it gives his fans something to chew on until his next project (to be called Pulp Fiction) is released next year. Despite Tony Scott's occasional blundering, True Romance is still a visceral roller coaster." - James Berardinelli

Chicago Sun-Times 8 of 10
"There are few objections to ""True Romance"" that I haven't thought of, and I dismiss them all with a wave of the hand. This is the kind of movie that creates its own universe, and glories in it...""True Romance"" was directed by Tony Scott, whose movies like ""Top Gun"" and ""Days of Thunder"" show an affection for boys and their toys. But the film's real author, his stamp on every line of every scene, is Quentin Tarantino. As in ""Reservoir Dogs,"" his 1992 directorial debut, Tarantino creates a world of tough guys, bravado, lurid melodrama, easy women, betrayal, guns and drugs...There isn't a moment of ""True Romance"" that stands up under much thought, and yet the energy and style of the movie are exhilirating." - Roger Ebert