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True Romance is
a love story, but you can’t call it a chick movie. It begins somewhat traditionally: boy
and girl meet at a movie, they decide to go to get some pie afterwards, then boy takes
girl to the comic book shop where he works and shows her what Spider-Man Number
One looks like, and then they go home and have sex.
End traditional and
begin the wild ride that writer Quentin Tarantino calls a movie.
That night, the girl, Alabama (Patricia Arquette), comes clean about being a call-girl
who was hired to go out with the boy, Clarence (Christian Slater). Not only does he
accept this fact with grace, but they also both agree that they’re in love with each
other. The next morning, they get married. Soon after that, Clarence goes to get
Alabama’s things from her ex-pimp but—big mistake—grabs a suitcase of cocaine instead.
During the rest of the movie, the happy couple tries to sell the cocaine while being
chased by the mob that they stole it from.
This movie is one of my
favorites. It has off-beat humor, a little romance, and lots of blood, shooting, and
violence. It centers on Alabama and Clarence, but, typical to Tarantino films, the
supporting characters almost steal the show. Clarence’s father (Dennis Hopper) is tough
as nails as he protects his son. Alabama’s white pimp thinks he’s black—and he delivers
the classic line, “He must have thought it was white boy day. It ain’t white boy day, is
it?” One of the hit men sent after the couple waxes philosophical about how disturbing
and difficult one’s first kill is. And the bit parts by big stars are great—you never
get to see Val Kilmer’s face, Brad Pitt has approximately five lines, and Samuel L.
Jackson has fewer.
Slater does a great job as the tough but continually
out of his depth Clarence, and Arquette is adorable as a Florida “peach” with a pit of
iron. This movie has everything—and, as long as you don’t mind violence, it could become
one of your favorites, too.
