True Romance is a movie that hit the big screen back in 1993 and marked the return of Tony Scott to the director's chair. Scott may have had a successful filmmaking career before and after True Romance, but this remains my favourite of all of him movies.
True Romance
True Romance also saw Quentin Tarantino on board as he penned the film's screenplay. I don't know about you, but I really would like to see Tarantino write more things and then hand them over to another director.
It is a savvy, witty, violent, unpredictable and charming story from Tarantino and the strength of the screenplay is one of the reasons that this movie works so well and has endured for the last twenty years.
Tarantino has written some great scripts over the years, but this is certainly one of his best. You could argue that this is the best Tarantino movie that's never been made. Instead, Tony Scott took up the director's chair and put his own filmmaking stamp on a great story.
While Scott doesn't shy away from the film's violence, there is also a charm and a warmth in the way that he has shot the film's love story and his central casting of Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette as Clarence and Alabama is spot on.
True Romance is a love at first sight tale and you believe in this relationship from the moment that Clarence and Alabama meet. There is a spark between these two characters - it is what draws them together after a chance meeting - and the chemistry between Slater and Arquette is just fantastic.
Neither of their lives has panned out the way that they planned, but they see a new life and hope in each other; you really do want this relationship to succeed from the moment that they get together.
A fantastic cast is assembled around them as Dennis Hopper, Val Kilmer, Gary Oldman, Brad Pitt and Christopher Walken all make an appearance - some of them very briefly. Hopper and Walken may not be the film's main characters, but the moment where they come face to face for the 'Sicilian' scene is unforgettable.
True Romance is driven by some truly compelling characters, great action moments, and some wonderful dialogue. Throw in some great performances from Slater, Arquette, and James Gandolfini - who can forget the moment when Virgil beats up Alabama? - and you have a movie that is terrific from start to finish.
True Romance was a movie that really cemented Tarantino as a terrific writer and breathed new life into the directing career of Tony Scott; I would have liked to see these two reunite and work together again.
For me, True Romance is one of the best black comedies of all time but, at the same time, Scott cleverly brings together all of the different genres and elements that make up Tarantino's script. True Romance remains a great watch no matter how many times you have seen it.