Tarantino At His Tops with Tony

Rating: 10/10 (30 August 2009)

"Top Gun" director Tony Scott pulls out all stops in "True Romance," a wonderfully lyrical, but abrasive crime thriller that opens in frigid, snowy Detroit, migrates to warm, sunny Los Angeles, and then concludes on a sandy beach in Mexico. "Beverly Hills Cop " lenser Jeffrey L. Kimball is such a gifted cinematographer that he makes everything in this off-beat romantic actioneer look picture postcard gorgeous and Scott orchestrates the shoot-outs for maximum impact. You will see a lot of Dutch tilt angles in "True Romance" to capture the dangerous, topsy-turvy hi-jinks. While Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette are the leaders, the producers have surrounded them with a superlative supporting cast, and Brad Pitt gives one of the best performances in a rather slight role as a slacker who lives on a couch. Christopher Walken, Dennis Hopper, Gary Oldman, Samuel L. Jackson, and Val Kilmer as Elvis flesh out the film. Further, Scott has assembled a variety of songs both popular and classical that do as much to enliven the atmosphere of a scene as the cinematography. The editing on the roller-coaster scene is nothing short of spectacular. Like any Tarantino-directed movie, "True Romance" contains myriad references to pop culture, especially Elvis Presley, Sonny Chiba, Charles Bronson, "Star Trek's" Captain Kirk, and John Woo's Hong Kong actioneers, with profanity galore. The story follows the misadventures of a young, twentysomething drifter from Detroit and his wife--a reformed prostitute--as they head out to Hollywood to sell a suitcase bulging with cocaine and then ride off into the sunset.
Clarence Worley (Christian Slater of "Heathers") works at a comic book store, Heroes for Sale, and every year during his birthday he attends a Sonny Chiba triple feature. Tonight he encounters the woman of his dreams, Alabama (Patricia Arquette) and spends an eventful night with her. Initially, Alabama plans to leave Clarence, but she cannot compose a letter and gets no farther than 'Dear Clarence.' Later, Clarence learns that Alabama is a 'call girl' and his boss paid for her. Nevertheless, Clarence and Alabama falls hopelessly in love and venture downtown the next day to wed. They have matching tattoos inked into their bodies. Clarence asks Alabama about her things that she left where she worked as a prostitute. Our blonde heroine tries to dissuade Clarence from dropping in on her former pimp Drexl Spivey (Gary Oldman of "Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead"), so he can retrieve her things. Meantime, Clarence's idol, the late Elvis Presley (Val Kilmer of "Top Gun") advises Clarence on his options. What makes Elvis' appearances cool is that you catch only glimpses of his face, you see his body only making those characteristic Elvis' moves. Usually, Elvis—called the 'Mentor' in the screen credits—talks to Clarence when our hero is in the bathroom.
Clarence is determined that he must severe any ties between Alabama's old boss and her new way of life. A gunfight erupts at Drexl's place and Clarence survives miraculously. He orders a hooker to give him Alabama's suitcase. What he gets is a ton of cocaine. Ironically, the suitcase has an anti-narcotics bumper sticker on it. Earlier, Drexl double-crossed some associates and stole the suitcase from them. Thus begins Clarence's odyssey. Alabama and he head out for Los Angeles, but before they blow out of town, Clarence checks in on his divorced father Clifford Worley (Dennis Hopper of "True Grit") to see if the authorities know anything about Drexl's death. Clifford clears any doubts that Clarence has so Alabama and he pile into his pink convertible Cadillac and take off for California to meet his old friend Dick Ritchie (Michael Rapaport of "Zebrahead"), an aspiring actor with an audition for the new "T.J. Hooker." Predictably, Dick doesn't know what to say when he sees all the coke. Nevertheless, he is frustrated that Clarence thinks that he has connections in the Hollywood industry to unload the cocaine.
Meanwhile, after Clarence and Alabama leave, the Sicilian mob comes a-calling, and Clifford meets Vincenzo Coccotti (Christopher Walken of "The Deer Hunter") who tells him all about Clarence and the stolen narcotics. Of course, Clifford doesn't believe a word of it, but Coccotti wants to know where his product is so he tortures Clifford. He starts out by slashing his hand. One of the best scenes in "True Romance" has Clifford telling off Coccotti with a politically incorrect yarn about why Italians in southern Italy no longer have blue eyes and blond hair. Tarantino has gone on record saying that he got this fanciful story from an African-American friend. The bit of classical music that is set against Clifford's history lesson is stunning. Naturally, Coccotti isn't amused when Clifford calls him 'an egg-plant.' Anyway, Clifford refuses to divulge the whereabouts of Clarence and Alabama, and Coccotti blasts him at point blank range with a revolver. Attired in a topcoat with a scarf, Coccotti resembles a priest about to administer last rites. No sooner have they executed Clifford than a mobster finds a note attached to the fridge and provides them with Clarence's contact information in Hollywood. The dramatic irony of this revelation and Clifford's decision to sacrifice himself for his son is quite striking.
In Hollywood, Dick introduces our heroes to Elliot Blitzer (Bronson Pinchot of "Beverly Hills Cop") who serves as a assistant to movie mogul Lee Donowitz (Saul Rubinek of "Unforgiven") and Clarence convinces Lee to buy the coke. Eventually, the Detroit mob hits Los Angeles and they come gunning for Clarence, with one of Coccotti's henchmen, Virgil (James Gandolfini of "The Sopranos"), taking an interest in Alabama. The fight between Alabama and Virgil is one of the most violent scenes and she celebrates her victory in a chant of primal ecstasy that makes her look like Tarzan.
"True Romance" is a fantastic movie with memorable dialogue worth quoting. The protagonists are both young and sympathetic. Christian Slater will never play another character as likable as Clarence Worley.