For years, when friends would try to explain the concept of True Romance, I simply had to imagine that the title was ironic. A film such as this hardly seemed romantic. However, Tony Scott's 1993 flick written by Quentin Tarantino cannot be tied down to one, or even multiple genres. It simultaneously functions as an action flick, as well as a love story.
However, this is certainly not The Notebook. The film opens as we meet Clarence (Christian Slater), a twenty-something comic book store clerk who loves kung-fu flicks and Elvis, but runs into a little trouble when it comes to the ladies. When he meets Alabama (Patricia Arquette), he falls deeply in love with her, before finding out that she is a call girl his boss hired for his birthday. But she is just as in love with him, and they get married.
However, not a day into their marriage, their lives are turned upside-down when they accidentally steal half a million dollars of cocaine. Throughout the movie, the pair meet a who's-who of seedy characters, including Christopher Walken as a sinister mob boss, James Gandolfini as a hired thug, and Gary Oldman, giving a great performance as Drexel, Alabama's pimp.
One of the most astounding things about this movie is not how many big names it stars, but just how little the movie focuses on them. Samuel L. Jackson, for instance acts as more of a setpiece, only appearing onscreen for about a minute, with little dialogue. However, this is more of a strength of the film than a weakness. While many films get distracted focusing on cameos from other big-name actors, True Romance never strays from the relationship between Clarence and Alabama.
As the film progresses, I felt closer to these two characters, and while the relationship seemed false and rash at the beginning, as the story progressed the true earnestness of the relationship began to shine through, and I really started to care for them. By the time the the final credits started to roll, I was totally invested in the story, and I couldn't have been more satisfied.
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