Whilst 'True Romance' has the trappings of a Tarantino film, it lacks cohesion and substance.

Rating: 6/10 (12 July 2015)

'True Romance' is instantly recognisable as a Tarantino film, although it is directed by Tony Scott, with the writing credits attributed to Tarantino. The cast is promising, and the opening credits intrigued me with the promise of performances by Dennis Hopper, Brad Pitt, Christopher Walken, James Gandolfini and a host of other acclaimed actors. The lead roles are played by Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette, as a couple of cinema-goers who stumble upon one another and inadvertently fall in love. The plot soon acquires an action- thriller narrative as drugs, pimps and gangsters infringe on the couple's peace. Arquette handles her role well and plays some scenes excellently, but I'm not so sure about the casting of Slater: I think there was substantially better talent on-hand for 'True Romance', and I have to say that I didn't enjoy Slater's performance very much at all. One of the most talked about scenes of Scott's film seems to be the one between Dennis Hopper and Christopher Walken, perhaps the two most distinguished actors in the film (at this point). The scene is certainly decent, but doesn't really seem integral to the wider story. Many of the other scenes take a very Tarantino-esque approach: heated arguments are made between characters, followed by a bloody shootout. I think that this is milked somewhat in 'True Romance', and I thought that a lot more restraint could have been shown. The whole film seems like a proto-'Pulp Fiction', but with less interesting characters and developments. I also noticed that by the 45-minute mark, every character in Scott's film annoyed me for a different reason. The whole production is as inexplicable as 'No Country for Old Men' and as desperate as '25th Hour', but lacks the strong characters and narratives that defined both of these superior drugs-themed films.