True Romance (1993)

Clarence marries hooker Alabama, steals cocaine from her pimp, and tries to sell it in Hollywood, while the owners of the coke try to reclaim it.

Director:

Tony Scott

Writer:

Quentin Tarantino

Stars:

Christian Slater, Patricia Arquette, Dennis Hopper

1 win & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Christian Slater	...	Clarence Worley
Patricia Arquette	...	Alabama Whitman
Dennis Hopper	...	Clifford Worley
Val Kilmer	...	Mentor
Gary Oldman	...	Drexl Spivey
Brad Pitt	...	Floyd - Dick's Roommate
Christopher Walken	...	Vincenzo Coccotti
Bronson Pinchot	...	Elliot Blitzer
Samuel L. Jackson	...	Big Don
Michael Rapaport	...	Dick Ritchie
Saul Rubinek	...	Lee Donowitz
Conchata Ferrell	...	Mary Louise Ravencroft
James Gandolfini	...	Virgil
Anna Levine	...	Lucy (as Anna Thomson)
Victor Argo	...	Lenny

Storyline

In Detroit, Clarence Worley goes to the movie theater alone on the day of his birthday to watch some movies. The gorgeous Alabama Whitman accidentally drops her popcorn on Clarence and they watch the movie together. Then they eat pieces of pie and they have one night stand, so Clarence eats more pie of another kind. In the morning, Alabama confesses that she is a call-girl hired to spend the night with him, but she has fallen in love with him. In the morning they get married and Clarence goes to the club where she worked to bring her some clothes. However, her pimp Drexl Spivey and his partner beat up Clarence and he reacts by killing them both. Clarence asks for Alabama's suitcase with her clothes and the other girls mistakenly give another one with cocaine. When Clarence discovers the mistake, he decides to travel with Alabama to the house of his friend, the aspiring actor Dick Ritchie, to sell the drug and travel to Mexico. He visits his father Clifford Worley and gives his address...

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Plot Keywords:

pimp | drugs | cocaine | newlywed | movie theater | 

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Taglines:

Not since Bonnie and Clyde have two people been so good at being bad.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Romance | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook

Country:

USA France

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

10 September 1993 (USA)

Also Known As:

True Romance

Filming Locations:

The Vista Theatre - 4473 Sunset Drive, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$13,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

£1,321,112 (UK) (12 November 1993)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Morgan Creek Productions, Davis-Films, August Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min 121 min (unrated director's cut)

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The comic book that Clarence shows Alabama is "Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos" #18. In this issue, Nick has gotten a ring for his sweetheart (Pamela Hawley) that he keeps on a chain around his neck. Later in the story, he gets in a fight with a Nazi and the ring falls overboard but Fury dives into the ocean to retrieve it. What Clarence doesn't tell Alabama is that when Fury returns to give the ring to his love he finds she's been killed. On a side note, Samuel L. Jackson (who appears as Big Don) would go on to play Fury in Marvel's series of Avenger films.

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Goofs

Obvious stunt driver in place of Clarence as he drives away from the Safari Motor Inn.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Clarence Worley: In Jailhouse Rock he was everything rockabilly's about. I mean, he is rockabilly. Mean, surly, nasty, rude. In that movie he couldn't give a fuck about nothing except rockin' and rollin', living fast, dying young and leaving a good-looking corpse.

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Connections

References My Blood Runs Cold (1965)

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Soundtracks

Heartbreak Hotel
Written by Mae Boren Axton, Tommy Durden and Elvis Presley
Performed by Val Kilmer

User Reviews

Tarantino's most "personal" writing; Scott gives commendable direction to all-stars

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!).