Tarantino's Soft Spot?

Rating: 8/10 (2 August 2013)

Having watched True Romance, I have now seen every film that Quentin Tarantino has had a major involvement in (i.e the films he wrote and directed, not the ones he presented). It's fair to say that none of them have disappointed me - except Jackie Brown, but I'll moan about that if and when I review it- and True Romance is absolutely no exception!
I loved this film, fair and square. But what's so intriguing about it is that it's unlike any of Tarantino's other films...maybe that's because he didn't direct, he only wrote it, and it is slightly lovy dovy - not something I would expect from Quentin! Most of the soundtrack is songs I would never really expect to hear in one of Q.T's flicks (espically the song that's played almost every time someone has an intimate conversation) and a lot of the cast I just would never expect to see in association with him. That may sound a little negative but come on, ask yourself, before you heard of this film, did you really expect to see Gary Oldman in a Tarantino movie...I don't think so! Having said this though, when you listen to some of the dialogue, you can instantly tell it's Q.T's words. I don't really know how to explain it but, you'll know what I mean. Oh and Samuel L. Jackson makes a short appearance too!
One of the things that attracted me to this movie was the cast. Gary Oldman (one of my fav's), Brad Pitt, Val Kilmer, Christopher Walken and Dennis Hopper. I'll be honest, I have never seen a Christian Slater movie (other than Robin Hood, but I don't count that as a Slater movie) and I wasn't really all that fussed about seeing him, but I tell you, he just really sits right with Tarantino's screenplay. Of course, I don't really think he was the only actor that could have cast has "Clarence", but he shone none the less. Once more, I felt that he really made a proper connection with Patricia Arquette, or rather "Alabama" - the love interest.
Christian and Patricia are the stars of the film and are in pretty much every scene, but all of the other big names get a maximum of 2 scenes - though I think Dennis Hopper had 3. This may come has a bit of a downer to those of you who are looking to see your favourite actor, but don't be disappointed - remember, Anthony Hopkins stole Silence of the Lambs and he was only in it for 15 minutes! Gary Oldman's performance was utterly staggering and slightly frightening; not only was he in a film I didn't him to be in, but he was also playing a role I could never have imagined him as. He plays...wait for it...a pimp who thinks he's black! Who'd of thought Commissioner Gordon could pull that off?
The one scene that Christopher Walken is in, and I mean ONE, is one of my favourite parts of the film. Chris just reels you in when he says "I'm the Anti-Christ" in his very thick accent! Now, I really enjoy Val Kilmer's films (don't ever mention Batman Forever to me though, that film just makes me weep) and I was looking forward to him playing another one of these amazing cameos, but the credits rolled and I just couldn't for the life of me remember seeing him and I'm sure that those of you who watch this film, and don't watch Val on a loop, will feel the same way. I looked at his name in the credits and it says he plays a character called "Mentor" and I had no I idea who the hell he was. But, then it hit me, there are two scenes in the film where Clarence (Slater) is MENTORED by his hero, Elvis Presley, and when looked back at those scenes I thought that Elvis did sound quite a bit like Val's character in Tombstone. So now you know...and knowing is half the battle! Though his face is blurred, so you can't see his questioning face.
The soundtrack is simple to judge, all of the songs that feature are stuck in my brain and...I like it!
People who will like this: Tarantino fans, Oldman fans, Walken fans, Slater fans, Rom-Com fans, Gangster fans
People who won't like this: Those who fancy Val Kilmer, those who didn't like Platoon due to it's over-repeated main theme