Travis Leamons // Film Critic
Rated: R, 120 minutes.
Director: Tony Scott
Cast: Christian Slater, Patricia Arquette, Dennis Hopper, Gary Oldman, Christopher Walken, Michael Rapaport, Brad Pitt, Bronson Pinchot, Saul Rubinek, James Gandolfini, Chris Penn, Tom Sizemore, Samuel L. Jackson, and Val Kilmer
Tony Scott biographer Larry Taylor acknowledges at the outset of his sit-down interview about the late filmmaker and his adrenaline-style approach to his work – one of the new bonus features included as part of Arrow Video’s lavish home video release – that TRUE ROMANCE is a victim of timing. Had it been released in 1995, it would have been one of the biggest hits for Warner Bros. The marketing would have pumped up co-star Brad Pitt, but the name they would have really plastered in advertising is Quentin Tarantino. He was lightning hot after his second film, PULP FICTION, set the independent film world ablaze. Instead, Scott’s film got sandwiched between Tarantino’s 1992 buzzworthy festival debut, RESERVOIR DOGS, and his Oscar-winning tribute to pulp stories two years later.
The cinematic collision of a pop culture obsessionist and a well-established director with a glossy, superficial style (eye?) presents a cosmic quagmire in TRUE ROMANCE. Advertised to appeal to those tired of romances and to try a relationship instead, this Tarantino-Scott offspring is a miracle Molotov cocktail of a movie that works better than it should and worst because we know the type of filmmaker Quentin would mature to become.
It’s a boy meets girl romance with Clarence Worley (Christian Slater) getting the birthday gift of a lifetime with an all-expenses-already-paid-for date with Alabama (Patricia Arquette). Now, Clarence is the poster child for this film’s demographic. He works in a comic-book shop, watches Kung-fu movies, and evangelizes the greatness of Elvis as if he were his guardian angel (spoiler: He is. Long live “The King”.) Unbeknownst to Alabama when they first meet, she too enjoys most of Clarence’s interests. Well, except for the Partridge Family.
The two form an immediate connection, and it’s the sort of kismet pairing that leads to a whirlwind adventure taking the newlyweds from Detroit to L.A. with a suitcase full of nose candy and characters seemingly plucked out of a few Elmore Leonard crime novels. Gary Oldman as a pockmarked pimp named Drexl; Christopher Walken playing a consiglieri with greasy, slick-backed hair; a pre-Tony Soprano James Gandolfini as a mafia henchman; and Brad Pitt looking like he went in to read for DAZED AND CONFUSED and wound up here by mistake.
This cast is bananas – but should be expected from Risa Garcia and Billy Hopkins, who have worked extensively with Oliver Stone (JFK, NATURAL BORN KILLERS) – and outstanding with the inclusions of Dennis Hopper as Clarence’s father, Val Kilmer in silhouette, Michael Rapaport, Bronson Pinchot, Saul Rubinek, Tom Sizemore and Chris Penn as cops, plus Samuel L. Jackson talking about eating something that isn’t a Big Kahuna burger.
The supporting cast is window dressing with a few shining moments, particularly Walken and Hopper’s scene which I contend is still one of the best scenes Tarantino has ever written. But this is, above all, Slater and Arquette’s party with us along for the ride. Clarence is clearly a stand-in for Quentin. Just replace the comic shop with a video store. The character traits remain the same, give or take a few. Alabama is male wish fulfillment in the flesh; brought down from the movie nerd gods to spill popcorn in our laps before sharing a slice of pie.
Relationship implausibility be damned, by the time Clarence has his Mr. Majestick encounter with Alabama’s pimp and the two get out of Dodge lickety split you are fully invested in the romance. Tony Scott understood the assignment, saw it as a fairy tale in need of some visual epinephrine, and happily obliged as he’s wont to do. His audible for the ending was cherry. To end it as Tarantino had written, no way does TRUE ROMANCE become such an enduring boy meets call girl love story.
Arrow Films is having a banner year as a boutique label. Its release of TRUE ROMANCE as a 4K UHD follows other signature titles the distributor has been able to procure from major studios. Titles like 12 MONKEYS, DUNE, and ROBOCOP. And Arrow’s licensing of Shaw Bros. titles, including recent drops COME DRINK WITH ME and THE 8 DIAGRAM POLE FIGHTER, would be still Clarence’s beating heart.
Arriving in no less than three different variants of limited packaging, TRUE ROMANCE gets a superior – and much-needed – HDR upgrade. The video quality obliterates what Warner Bros. offered back with its 2009 Blu-ray. Detroit’s blue hues and L.A.’s orange glow have never looked better. Both the original theatrical version and the director’s cut are available via seamless branching, and the disc retains the three previous audio commentaries (director Tony Scott; actors Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette; and writer Quentin Tarantino) recorded for the 2002 Director’s Cut two-disc special edition DVD. A fourth commentary is new to the set with film scholar Tim Lucas professing the virtues the film.
The disc ports over most of the extras created for Warner Bros. twenty years ago. Deleted scenes and alternate ending – all playable with optional commentary from Tony Scott or Quentin Tarantino. Select scene commentaries with Dennis Hopper, Val Kilmer, Brad Pitt, and Michael Rapaport have been retained. Added to the mix are new recordings from Bronson Pinchot and Saul Rubinek. The Electronic Press Kit section allows us to see how TRUE ROMANCE was marketed for US and international audiences, offers the vintage 1993 featurette about the movie as well as a few EPK packages never before included on previous domestic releases.
Where Arrow sweetens the deal is by producing new interviews. We hear from Scott’s biographer Larry Taylor, costume designer Susan Becker, co-editor Michael Tronick, composers Mark Mancina and John Van Tongeren (who supplied additional music to Hans Zimmer’s score), and superfan Dan Storm, who owns the Cadillac Clarence drives in the film and started a festival to share his love addiction to TRUE ROMANCE.
Revisionist history has been kind to this Tarantino-Scott kinetic lovechild as well as it should. As Alabama writes “You’re So Cool” to Clarence on a napkin, I share her sentiment about this 4K UHD release. It’s so, so cool.
Movie Grade: B+
Extras Grade: A+
