Wednesday, July 11, 2012

True Romance (1993) - Romance / Thriller

I somehow missed this fantastic movie earlier just because it wasn’t directed by my all-time favorite Quentin Tarantino and what a crime that was to miss this one. I can never forgive myself for missing this for so long – what a fantastic movie with almost every scene crying out in bold letters “Quentin Tarantino” – I am sure his writing was so damn specific and clear that even after “Tony Scott” Directed it – you will agree with me that you see QT’s shadow on almost all the important scenes and cannot deny his big hand behind the movie. If you haven’t seen this yet – go ahead – do not miss it – I can see it again and again for its fantastic casting – Christian Slater in a role of a life time with hottie Paticia Arquette in a damn good role, totally lovable. Followed by my another favorite Gary Oldman although in a small role with Sam Jackson in “Blink and you miss me” role, with Val Kilmer as Elvis in two scenes, Chris Walken in a damn good character that you love to hate. Another two characters who leave a big impression on you are James Gandolfini as Chris Walken’s henchman and Brad Pitt as a friend of a friend of Slater, too good to be missed. The casual approach of the movie and its characters is its big USP. It shocks you, chills you, moves you, makes you fall in love with them but still never gets predictable as you never know where and what turn it takes. A total joy ride, not to be missed by any Romantic / Thriller fans. One hell of an amazing movie. 

The Movie: Slater works with a comic book store, on his birthday his boss hires a call girl to make him happy and sends her to join him while he watches three movies back to back. Initially he had no idea about her coming to him, they have a good evening after movie, go out dining and end up making out in his apartment, later she confesses to him that she is a call girl and he happens to be her fourth customer in first three days of being a prostitute, and she has fallen in love with him too. Here comes the twist – they marry the next day and Slater goes off to meet her pimp – Gary Oldman – so he could get her free. In the turn of the events he is advised by Elvis (Val Kilmer) to kill the bad guy and set his girl free, in an amazing scene of shooting each other – he ends up killing Gary and picks up a bag thinking it belongs to Patricia. That turns out to be a bag full of half a million worth uncut cocaine. And the game of cat and mouse hunt starts.

Christian Slater and Beautiful Patricia Arquette
It’s an amazing thriller this point onwards as you know that they wont be left alone with that bag full of cocaine and sooner then later will get caught either by cops or bad guys, who are on his lookout. They go to his dad’s house – who he was meeting after so many years – his dad (Dennis Hopper) lends them some money and they set off on their honeymoon to LA. To catch up with his old friend who is a Hollywood struggler stays with his room mate (Brad Pitt). Every ten minutes you end up being introduced to a new character who gets involved with them later to be screwed by either cops or bad guys. It’s a typical Quentin Tarantino fare with all the elements showing his shadow all around, may it be the excellent background score with songs from Elvis or Aerosmith, or the discussions between the gangsters and the people they are torturing to know the location of their cocaine, I mean there is a scene where Chris Walken is about to kill Dennis Hopper as he has hardly any idea of his son’s location and they end up discussing about Chris’s ancestors, knowing that he will be shot shortly – he does asks for a cigarette and smokes it peacefully before being shot and killed finally. One hell of a signature killing – QT style. It is such a smooth ride and casual movie that you totally get engrossed and hooked to it big time, it shocks you with its violence, blood, gore and shooting scenes but never goes over board. The climax is totally rocking scene with so many characters and everything coming to a close ending in a fantastic finale with unbelievable end to all the drama.  

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