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