Bloody Wild Romance

Rating: Null/10 (23 November 2008)

At times, 'True Romance' reminded me of David Lynch's 'Wild At Heart' and Oliver Stone's 'Natural Born Killers' (the latter came out much later). Even though there has been movies based on similar storyline 'True Romance' has a lot of stuff that makes it its own movie. Yet, I cannot shake the idea that perhaps had I watched the film during the time of its release and not seen the other similar films that have been made since, I might have enjoyed 'True Romance' a bit more. 'True Romance' is very much a pulp fiction itself (no pun intended as Tarantino wrote the screenplay). It's got the hooker with a big heart, the 'nobody' who finds a reason to live, a fake Rastafarian pimp who thinks he's black, the mobster, the cops, blood, murder, violence, drugs....and there's enough energy to entice the viewer. I enjoyed the numerous Elvis references, the wicked humour, the dialogues, the characters and the performances. Tony Scott does a fine job as director. Christian Slater is great as the likable 'nobody' and Patricia Arquette is brilliant as sweet hooker Alabama. Christopher Walken, Dennis Hopper, Gary Oldman and James Gandolfini are outstanding. Fans of pulp fiction may enjoy this more than others but even otherwise it was a fun Saturday night watch for me after a tiring day.