Day 77 - True Romance



Day 77            True Romance [1993]
                          
Screenplay                    Quentin Tarantino
Director                         Tony Scott
Cinematography            Jeffrey L. Kimball
Music                            Hans Zimmer
Leads                            Christian Slater, Patricia Arquette, Dennis Hopper, Val Kilmer, Gary Oldman, Brad Pitt, Christopher Walken, Bronson Pinchot, Michael Rapaport
Production                     Moran Creek Productions, Davis Films, A Band Apart

IMDb                                7.9/10
Rotten Tomatoes                92%

It’s the Quentin that we know and love. Not the man himself, who is a dodgy basterd, and not far off his character in From Dusk till Dawn (without the killing (I hope)) in real life. The writing is impeccable, Tarantino always manages to craft his characters to such perfection that the plot rarely matters. We are so interested in the individuals that he has created – who gives a fuck if the plot makes no sense? However, the plot in this is epic. Full of the twists, turns and weird character traits that we have since come to expect from Tarantino’s writing. I am not going to give too much away about the plot here as it takes rather a lot of explaining and I’d have to hit you with some spoilers. It’s a thrill ride of blood, young love, gangsters, drug deals, wannabe actors and more blood. I loved kung-fu and Elvis loving Clarence (Slater) and call-girl Alabama (Arquette) in this movie. They are so themselves it hurts, neither having any sort of awareness of the world around them. They are crazy, just doing their thing and constantly getting away with it. Arquette especially makes you fall in love with the mad Alabama, vulnerable and sweet, yet she’s a survivor. The ensemble cast couldn’t be much better. Walken and Hopper are involved in one of Tarantino’s best scenes ever that you can see in Absolute Scenes. A nearly-super-famous Brad Pitt also appears briefly but hilariously. As does Gary Oldman. It’s just such a feel-good film, but not for the reasons you’d usually expect. The trivia for the film makes good reading too. Final shout-out to Zimmer for making one of my favourite pieces of film music that plays the film out. Perhaps play it and read this review then watch the film straight after. That 3.5 may well turn into a 4 when I watch it again.

Acting                           3.5 / 4
Writing                             4 / 4
Cinematography               3 / 4
Music                            3.5 / 4
HWF rating               3.5 / 4