True Romance

True Romance is a movie directed by Tony Scott (Top Gun) and written by Quentin Tarantino and Roger Avary. It was released in 1993. It stars Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette. Also featured are Val Kilmer, Dennis Hopper, Christopher Walken, Gary Oldman, Michael Rapaport, Brad Pitt, Bronson Pinchot, James Gandolfini, Chris Penn, Tom Sizemore, and Samuel L. Jackson.

True Romance is a love story filled with violence, drugs, and sex. The plot can be summarized as follows: Boy (Slater) meets Girl (Arquette), but the Girl is a prostitute. Boy kills her pimp and inadvertantly steals the pimp's cocaine, but the drugs really belong to Sicilian mobsters.

Notably, some of the appearances by the supporting cast are very brief. Christopher Walken, for example, appears only once but gives a very memorable speech, as he would do in Tarantino's Pulp Fiction, released the following year.

Tarantino's breakthrough

True Romance was a breakthrough, of sorts, for Quentin Tarantino, in that the money from the sale of the script enabled Tarantino to direct Reservoir Dogs. However, Tarantino's script, especially the ending, was different from the screenplay of the film as released. The original Tarantino ending is on the unrated special DVD release. The script for True Romance was Tarantino's first movie and he had hoped to direct himself but couldn't. He couldn't sell it for a long time, around 5 years, and thus wrote Natural Born Killers. That too didn't sell for a while and he then moved onto Reservoir Dogs, which finally became his "first film."

True Romance script

As it turned out, the script for True Romance had been sold when Tarantino was introduced to director Tony Scott. Scott read both of Tarantino's scripts, True Romance and Natural Born Killers, and decided to direct True Romance. Other than the ending (Clarence was shot dead during the climactic Mexican Standoff in the script) and the ordering of the scenes, Scott's film uses Tarantino's original script. Originally, the film was written to begin with the same "I'd fuck Elvis" scene, then the opening credits as the release. But the first scene in Tarantino's script was the scene where the drug-dealer Drexl steals the cocaine. After that, the next scene was Clarence and Alabama showing up at Clarence's father home, from which point the scene order is the same up to when Clarence and Alabama meet Dick Ritchie, which ends Act I. Dick asks how they met and we see the movie theater scenes, marriage, and killing of Drexl and mistaken stealing of the cocaine. Act III begins with the scene where Dick sees how much cocaine Clarence brought with him and begins to freak out about it, after which the movie plays straight to the end.

Tarantino, in the commentary on the unrated director's cut DVD, mentions how this structure to the three acts results in the characters in the movie knowing everything in Act I while the audience doesn't know anything, the audience catches up in Act II, and the audience knows more than the characters in Act III.

Also notable is the film's score, by Hans Zimmer: its leitmotif is based on a familiar piece by Carl Orff (see also Badlands).

Plot Summary Part 1

The movie begins with Clarence Worley (Slater) in the bar in the above mentioned "I'd fuck Elvis" scene. Clarence meets a girl at the bar and invites her to see three Kung Fu movies with him. She declines. Clarence is next seen in the movie theaters catching a Sonny Chiba triple feature. Alabama (Arquette) walks into the theater and sits directly behind Clarence. She proceeds to dump popcorn all over him. Clarence brushes it off, and Alabama lights up a cigarette. She then jumps in the seat next to him and asks what she has missed in the movie. They then leave the theater playfully joking around seemingly enjoying one another's company. Alabama invites Clarence for pie. They go to the diner and get to know each other. Clarence then takes Alabama to his place of work, a comic book store. The attraction between them grows more and more obvious to the audience. They then go back to Clarence's place and make love. When Clarence wakes up, he sees Alabama sitting outside. She confesses to him that she is a call girl and confesses her love for him as well. Clarence is in love with her as well and they proceed to get married.

Clarence is visited by Elvis (Kilmer). Elvis visits Clarence throughout the movie and Elvis would appear to be Clarence's guardian angel of sorts. Elvis asks Clarence if he can live knowing he breathes the same air as Alabama's pimp Drexl (Oldman). Clarence can't live with this and decides to pay Drexl a visit. Clarence asks Alabama to give him Drexl's address so he can get her things back. He then shows up at Drexl's place and meets the man face to face. The mood is tense. Clarence refuses Drexl's offer to sit down and have some Chinese food. And Drexl already knows something isn't kosher. "No thanks? What does that mean? Means you ate before you came down here? All full. Is that it? Naw, I don't think so. I think you're too scared to be eatin'. Now, see we're sittin' down here, ready to negotiate, and you've already given up your shit. I'm still a mystery to you. But I know exactly where your ass is comin' from. See, if I asked you if you wanted some dinner and you grabbed an egg roll and started to chow down, I'd say to myself, "This motherfucker's carryin' on like he ain't got a care in the world. Who know? Maybe he don't. Maybe this fool's such a bad motherfucker, he don't got to worry about nothin', he just sit down, eat my Chinese, watch my TV." See? You ain't even sat down yet. On that TV there, since you been in the room, is a woman with her titties hangin' out, and you ain't even bothered to look. You just been starin' at me. Now, I know I'm pretty, but I ain't as pretty as a couple of titties." Clarence replies "I'm not eatin' 'cause I'm not hungry. I'm not sittin' 'cause I'm not stayin'. I'm not lookin' at the movie 'cause I saw it seven years ago. It's "The Mack" with Max Julian, Carol Speed, and Richard Pryor, written by Bobby Poole, directed by Michael Campus, and released by Cinerama Releasing Company in 1984. I'm not scared of you. I just don't like you. In that envelope is some payoff money. Alabama's moving on to some greener pastures. We're not negotiatin'. I don't like to barter. I don't like to dicker. I never have fun in Tijuana. That price is non-negotiable. What's in that envelope is for my peace of mind. My peace of mind is worth that much. Not one penny more, not one penny more." Drexl finds that the envelope is empty and a fight breaks out. The fight is intense and Clarence is at an immediate disadvantage because Drexl's buddy Marty jumps in to make it a two on one. Clarence fights hard for a while but is held by Marty while Drexl punches him in the face, and Clarence goes down after a hard kick to the balls. Drexl gets on top of Clarence and takes out his ID and now knows everything about Clarence, even where Alabama is. Drexl takes his attention off of Clarence for a second, and Clarence pulls a gun on him and shoots him in the genitals. While Drexl is shocked and in much pain, Clarence shoots Marty and then shoots Drexl in the head. Clarence demands the call girls to pack up Alabama's things, they do so, and Clarence gets out of dodge.

Clarence gets back and tells Alabama what happens and she finds it to be the most romantic thing. They open the suitcase to find that it is full of cocaine. Clarence and Alabama then visit Clarence's father. Clarence's father is a cop and he asks him to find out if the police are looking for him. His father finds out that the cops aren't looking for him. When gangsters end up dead and drugs are missing, the police assume the bad guys are knocking off other bad guys. Clarence and his father haven't seen each other in a very long time but Clarence and Alabama leave on good terms to go meet Clarence's friend Dick Ritchie in LA.

To Dick's surprise, and his pothead roommate Floyd (Pitt), Clarence and Alabama show up and take Dick back to their hotel. They show Dick the enormous amount of cocaine they have come across and ask him if he can help them find someone to sell it to. Dick is freaked out but obliges. The Sicilian scene follows.

The Sicilian scene

Dennis Hopper (as Clarence's father, Clifford Worley) is paid an unwelcome visit by Christopher Walken (as Vincent Coccotti, consigliere to a gangster named "Blue Lou" Boyle) where Coccotti is questioning Worley as to the whereabouts of his son and his missing narcotics. Clifford realizes during the torture that he will eventually be killed if he doesn't tell Coccotti where his son is. Worley brings up the history and ancestry of Sicilians. Worley is allegedly quoting history on the claim of Sicilian people having black ancestry, or, as Hopper puts it in the movie: "Sicilians were spawned by niggers." This speech was the precursor to Worley's death. Right after Worley is shot, one of Coccotti's associates finds Dick Ritchie's address which Clarence left for his father in case he wanted to reach him. This scene has been nominated by Tarantino himself (on the True Romance Unrated Director's Cut DVD commentary) as one of his proudest moments. "I had heard that whole speech about the Sicilians a long time ago, from a black guy living in my house. One day I was talking with a friend who was Sicilian and I just started telling that speech. And I thought: “Wow, that is a great scene, I gotta remember that.”

This scene has been colloquially named the Sicilian scene ^* and become a cult favorite.

Plot Summary Part 2

Dick knows a big time movie producer named Lee Donowitz, played by Saul Rubinek, who is interested in purchasing the cocaine. He sends his assistant, Elliot played by Bronson Pinchott, to discuss business with Clarence. They meet at a theme park, where we discover Elliot is not very fond of roller coasters. The discussions with Elliot make Clarence uncomfortable, so he has Elliot call Lee, and Clarence and Lee arrange to meet.

One of Vincent Coccotti's men, Virgil stops by Dick's house and finds out that Clarence and Alabama are staying at the Hollywood Holiday Inn from Floyd. Virgil goes back to their room and is sitting there waiting for them to arrive. Alabama walks into the room while Clarence went to go get hamburgers. Virgil asks Alabama to give him his coke back and Alabama denies having it. Then, Virgil kicks Alabama repeatedly in the face and stomach. Alabama takes the beating and continues to deny it. After tearing the room apart Virgil eventually finds the coke under the bed. Alabama shows a lot of heart in taking this beating and Virgil allows her to stab him. She then stabs him in the foot and smashes him over the head with a statue. An absolute battle royale breaks out. The fight is taken into the bathroom. After a struggle with broken glass in the bathtub, Alabama eventually gets the upper hand by spraying hair spray on fire into his face, and then knocks him over the head with the lid of the toilet. Virgil attempts to get a shot off but is caught off guard by Alabama who then grabs his gun and shoots him repeatedly until death is certain. Clarence comes into the room as soon as the battle ends and takes Alabama and the coke and drives to an airport where he begins to take care of Alabama.

The movie then cuts to Elliot speeding down the highway with a woman. He is caught by the police for speeding, and he asks the woman to hide the cocaine that he has. She refuses to hide it and slams the bag in his face just in time for the officer to witness the cocaine all over his face. Elliot is then brought to prison where two officers Nicholson and Dimes work Elliot so hard that he tells them about Lee's upcoming deal with Clarence. Elliot offers to wear a wire at the meeting in order to stay out of jail. When the day of the meeting arrives, the officers convince Elliot that they know what they are doing (although it is quite apparent that they have never done this kind of thing before) and prepare him for what is about to come. Elliot meets Clarence, Alabama, and Dick at the elevator. When he gets into the elevator, Clarence holds a gun to Elliot's head and tells him that he can sense something is wrong. Elliot begins to cry as Clarence presses him for answers. Then, Clarence says that he just wanted to make sure everything was okay. Once they get into Lee's apartment, Clarence tells Lee about how he loves all of his movies. Lee takes a quick liking to Clarence, but Lee is unsure whether or not to make the purchase. Clarence is offering a lot of cocaine at a very cheap price. Clarence tells Lee that he got it from a friend that works in the police department. Lee buys Clarence's story and agrees to make the deal with Clarence. Once the deal is agreed upon Clarence goes to the bathroom. The police who have been monitoring the entire situation come in to make the arrest. Lee's bodyguards hate cops and want to kill them, hence making this scene even more intense. The intensity doesn't stop there. Coccotti's men then enter the room demanding their coke back. Then, one of the officers uses Elliot's name. Lee demands to know how the officer knows his name and eventually realizes Elliot is working with the police. In a moment of anger, Lee splashes a pot of hot coffee in Elliot's face and mass violence ensues. Officer Nicholson shoots Lee, who is then shot by Lee's bodyguard Boris. Then bullets are flying all over the room. Clarence walks out of the bathroom and is shot in the forehead. Alabama screams and crawls over to him to make sure he is okay. Dick throws the suitcase of cocaine in the air and it is shot several times causing the cocaine to go everywhere, and allowing Dick enough time to escape. After virtually everyone in the room dies, Alabama is able to revive Clarence and get him out of the room which is about to be covered in cops. They grab the money and somehow escape the police and get away. The movie then flashes into the future where Clarence and Alabama have a son named Elvis and they are living In Cancun with nothing to ever worry about again.

Memorable Quotes

"You know who I am, Mr. Worley? The anti-Christ - you get me in a vendetta kinda mood. You tell the angels in Heaven that you've never seen Evil so singularly personified as you did in the face of the man who killed you." Vincent Coccotti
"What I have to offer you. That's as good as it's gonna get and it won't ever get that good again." Vincent Coccotti
"Woulda got away with it. But ya son ... FUCKHEAD that he is, left his driver's license in a dead guy's hand." Vincent Coccotti
"I haven't killed anybody......since 1984." Vincent Coccotti
"He must have thought it was white boy day. It ain't white boy day, is it?" Drexl
"If you gave me a million years to ponder, I would've never guessed that true romance and Detroit would ever go together." Alabama
"No thanks? What does that mean? Means you ate before you came down here? All full. Is that it? Naw, I don't think so. I think you're too scared to be eatin'. Now, see we're sittin' down here, ready to negotiate, and you've already given up your shit. I'm still a mystery to you. But I know exactly where your ass is comin' from. See, if I asked you if you wanted some dinner and you grabbed an egg roll and started to chow down, I'd say to myself, "This motherfucker's carryin' on like he ain't got a care in the world. Who know? Maybe he don't. Maybe this fool's such a bad motherfucker, he don't got to worry about nothin', he just sit down, eat my Chinese, watch my TV." See? You ain't even sat down yet. On that TV there, since you been in the room, is a woman with her titties hangin' out, and you ain't even bothered to look. You just been clockin' me. Now, I know I'm pretty, but I ain't as pretty as a couple of titties." Drexl
"I'm not eatin' 'cause I'm not hungry. I'm not sittin' 'cause I'm not stayin'. I'm not lookin' at the movie 'cause I saw it seven years ago. It's "The Mack" with Max Julian, Carol Speed, and Richard Pryor, written by Bobby Poole, directed by Michael Campus, and released by Cinerama Releasing Company in 1984. I'm not scared of you. I just don't like you. In that envelope is some payoff money. Alabama's moving on to some greener pastures. We're not negotiatin'. I don't like to barter. I don't like to dicker. I never have fun in Tijuana. That price is non-negotiable. What's in that envelope is for my peace of mind. My peace of mind is worth that much. Not one penny more, not one penny more." Clarence
"Hey, get some beer, and some....cleaning products." Floyd
"As the sun sets slowly in the west we bid a fond farewell to all the friends we've made... and, with a touch of melancholy, we look forward to the time when we will all be together again." Clarence
"Unloading? That's a helluva way to describe the bargain of a lifetime." Clarence
"Do I look like a beautiful blond with big tits and an ass that tastes like French vanilla ice-cream?" Clarence To which Elliot responds "No. No, you don't." Clarence replies "Then why are you telling me all this bullshit just so you can fuck me?"
"I know I'm pretty, but I ain't as pretty as a couple of titties." Drexl
"I always said, if I had to fuck a guy... I mean had to, if my life depended on it... I'd fuck Elvis." Clarence
"If there's one thing this last week has taught me, it's better to have a gun and not need it than to need a gun and not have it." Clarence
"I'm not a whore. I'm a call-girl. There's a difference, you know ?" Alabama

Trivia

This film has a reputation of having great actors in small roles including famous ones as Dennis Hopper, Christopher Walken and Samuel L. Jackson. Other actors featured had yet to achieve the peak of their fame including Brad Pitt and James Gandolfini. Jack Black had a role as a movie theater attendant in a deleted scene.

A re-edited version that recuts the film according to the structure of Tarantino's original screenplay, is currently circulating the internet.

The comic book that Christian Slater's character is shown skimming through at the comic book store, is an issue of Marvel Comics' Sleepwalker. Although he provides a description of what is happening in the comic, it is not the actual storyline. The scene was written in the original screenplay to correspond with an isse of Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos

External links

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