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True Romance (1993)Rating: 3 1/2 Stars (out of 4)Comic Books and Kung-FuBy Jeffrey M. Anderson
So, True Romance is a film that goes to extremes in showing both greatness and ineptitude. Fortunately, the players, caught in the middle, are of a grand calibre and often save the picture from sinking. Christian Slater gives a solid performance in his best role yet, and Patricia Arquettte, a newcomer to me, is sweet, smart and tough. The creme filling of this movie, however, is its colorful rouge's gallery. Gary Oldman devours his ten minutes on screen as a scary pimp who thinks he's black. Christopher Walken as a mafia don and Dennis Hopper as a washed up security guard have a truly mesmerising scene together. Val Kilmer is all but invisible as Slater's guardian angel, Elvis and Brad Pitt is dead-on as a snoozy-eyed pothead. Tarantino's script is based on a thousand different movies and his passion for the cinema really shines through. The movie is decorated with kung-fu references everywhere. In one scene, Slater and Arquette watch A Better Tomorrow II (1987), by Tarantino's hero, Hong Kong director, John Woo. Slater goes to see a triple feature of Sonny Chiba movies, and Oldman watches The Mack (1973) on TV, a favorite blaxploitation movie. To Scott's credit, the script remains pretty much intact, although certain scenes were moved around. Scott has a slick, easy-to-look-at style that he got from making music videos and commercials. The movie is exciting, thanks to the script, but when it comes to the bullet-ridden showdown, Scott shows it in fast cuts, without giving us a perspective of the action or the space. It's ruined. But True Romance keeps going, and it seems to have a spark of life to it. DVD Details: Warner Home Video's new DVD includes three full-length commentary tracks: one by Scott, one by Tarantino and one by Slater and Arquette together. It also includes selected commentary tracks by Pitt, Hopper, Rapaport and Kilmer, deleted and extended scenes, a (horrible) alternate ending, and more. Starring: Christian Slater, Patricia Arquette, Gary Oldman, Michael Rapaport, Val Kilmer, Brad Pitt, Dennis Hopper, Christopher Walken, Chris Penn, Tom Sizemore, Bronson Pinchot, Saul Rubinek, James Gandolfini, Samuel L. Jackson |
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