September 20, 2018
'True Romance'
The Ringer's Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey honor the 25th anniversary of the action-packed romantic black comedy 'True Romance' starring Christian Slater, Patricia Arquette, and many more, and written by Quentin Tarantino and directed by Tony Scott.
Cast
Christian Slater as Clarence Worley
Patricia Arquette as Alabama Whitman
Dennis Hopper as Clifford Worley
Christopher Walken as Vincenzo Coccotti
Gary Oldman as Drexel Spivey
James Gandolfini as Virgil
Brad Pitt as Floyd
Val Kilmer as Elvis
Tom Sizemore as Det. Cody Nicholson
Chris Penn as Nicky Dimes
Samuel L. Jackson as Big Don
Saul Rubinek as Lee Donowitz
Bronson Pinchot as Elliot Blitzer
Michael Rapaport as Dick Ritchie
Directed by: Tony Scott
Written by: Quentin Tarantino
Music by: Hans Zimmer
Notes
- 92% on Rotten Tomatoes but a box office bomb – cost $12.5 million and made $12.3 million. The studio didn't know how to sell it and people didn't know how to deal with a movie like this.
- Tarantino wrote this as part of a 500-page screenplay that became three movies: 'True Romance', 'Reservoir Dogs', and Natural Born Killers. Alabama ends up going on the road with Mr. White in the original script. He sold 'True Romance' for $50K and used that money to fund 'Reservoir Dogs'.
- Tony Scott changed the ending because he loved the characters too much – originally Clarence died and Alabama got away with the money. They shot both versions. Tarantino's favorite scene he's ever written is the Sicilian scene between Hopper and Walken.
- Warner Brothers was going to change the title to 'Reckless Hearts' – Arquette and Tony Scott threw their bodies in front of it to keep the original title.
- The most five-minutes-or-less great performances of maybe any movie ever – Gary Oldman, Brad Pitt, Christopher Walken, Val Kilmer, Samuel L. Jackson all with limited screen time but all incredible.
- Tony Scott had 'the Persuader' – he would occasionally slap Patricia Arquette before heavy scenes to get her to the right emotional place. She eventually started asking for it. He called it 'the English school of directing.'
- Tom Sizemore was initially cast as Gandolfini's character but wasn't comfortable beating up Patricia Arquette on camera. He recommended Gandolfini because they had been in a play together – that's how Gandolfini got his big break.
- Brad Pitt's Floyd was largely improvised. Judd Apatow has said the idea for 'Pineapple Express' came from their love of Floyd.
- The Elvis estate would not allow them to use any Elvis music. Gary Oldman said Tony Scott told him Drexel was 'a pimp who's white but thinks he's black' and Oldman said 'that's all I needed to hear.' His dreadlocks came from the Dracula prop box.
- The drug deal was filmed at the abandoned Ambassador Hotel where Robert Kennedy was shot. The movie theater is the Vista on Sunset – Tarantino put a Sonny Chiba triple feature on the marquee and his movie nerd friends kept calling him about it.
- Walking shot his half of the Sicilian scene first – Walken begged Scott to shoot Hopper first, and Scott noticed Walken finding his character as he watched Hopper's performance play out.
Categories
Most re-watchable scene
- Clarence vs. Drexel – one of the great five minutes of the '90s. Gary Oldman swinging the light back and forth, eating Chinese food, the techno music, the shooting.
- The Sicilian scene – Hopper vs. Walken. Tarantino's favorite scene he's ever written. Two guys telling crazy stories, surrounded by gangsters, in a spotlight. 'You see, Sicilians have black blood pumping through their hearts.'
- Gandolfini vs. Alabama – the scene that changes the entire movie from fantasy to real stakes. She kills him with a shotgun and it's the most cathartic moment in the film.
- The cocaine sale at the Beverly Ambassador – Slater showing up wired, talking about Vietnam movies, 'coming home in a body bag.'
- The big three-way shootout – Tarantino's second three-way shootout in two movies.
What aged the best?
- Gandolfini – basically auditioning to be Tony Soprano. Sweet and charming and evil and menacing and violent. Watching it now with Sopranos knowledge is like watching Michael Jordan score 37 in college.
- Floyd (Brad Pitt) – the ultimate spirit animal of the DVD era. 'Don't condescend me, man. I'll fucking kill you.' The only improvised dialogue in the movie besides Hopper's 'eggplant' and Walken's 'cantaloupe.'
- Dennis Hopper as Clarence's dad – something so fucking likable about Hopper as he got older. The scene sets up everything about who Clarence is in three minutes.
- Sizemore and Penn together – the cop show we never got. Would have loved them on a 12-episode Fox cop show that got cancelled.
- Hans Zimmer's score – based on a 1500s composition by Carl Orff, picked up by Terrence Malick for Badlands, then redone by Zimmer. Gives the movie levity and makes you happy.
- The Tarantino dialogue – hard to overstate how unique it was at the time. It's been so ripped off since that people forget nobody was doing this in movies before.
What aged the worst?
- Smoking in movie theaters and payphones – small things but immediately date the movie.
- The Gandolfini-Arquette scene is hard to watch now – three scenes intercut of him beating her for minutes before she kills him in 30 seconds. Today they'd probably reverse the ratio.
- Drexel – the white pimp who thinks he's black would be a tough sell in 2018.
- The eggplant speech – not that it's aged badly per se, but the country has changed. Tarantino said it's based on a conversation with a black friend, but putting it in the mouth of an old white guy makes it more provocative.
- Tony Scott's 'Persuader' – slapping Patricia Arquette before heavy scenes. Indefensible in any era.
Casting what-ifs
- Tarantino wanted Joan Cusack for Alabama – 'what a fucking genius' choice that she never had a role to show off her sex appeal.
- Tony Scott wanted Drew Barrymore for Alabama – she could have pulled it off and might have become an A-lister after this movie.
- Val Kilmer desperately wanted to play Clarence. Tarantino originally saw the character as more of a David Carradine-type older loser.
- Tom Sizemore was initially cast as Gandolfini's character but asked to switch to the cop role and recommended Gandolfini.
Best "heat check" performance
- Saul Rubinek in a walk – the 11th man on the team who scored 20 points in seven minutes. His Joel Silver impersonation at the height of Joel Silver cocaine is incredible. 'I treated you like a son! Family!'
- Runners-up: Gary Oldman (Drexel), Brad Pitt (Floyd), Christopher Walken (the Sicilian), Dennis Hopper, James Gandolfini. Five legitimate Dion Waiters winners in one movie.
Best "that guy"
- Saul Rubinek – not positive everyone knows his name, but the highlight reel starts with Lee Donowitz.
- Ed Lauter – Eddie Albert's sidekick in 'The Longest Yard', head coach in Youngblood, always a lieutenant.
- Victor 'Argo' – one of Christopher Walken's guys in the Sicilian scene.
- Conchata Ferrell – the casting agent.
Over-acting award
- This is a movie where everybody is going for it – jacking up threes. It's like going from plodding half-court basketball to dunking.
- Bronson Pinchot as Elliot Blitzer – the elevator scene, the 'body bags' line, the bluffing scene with Sizemore and Penn. He's in too many scenes to win Dion Waiters but he's incredible.
Half-assed (internet) research
- Tarantino used $50K from selling the 'True Romance' script to fund 'Reservoir Dogs'.
- Gandolfini got into character by staying at a dingy hotel and not changing his underwear.
- The drug exchange was supposed to be at a zoo but the location fell through – that's how they ended up at Six Flags.
- Walken insisted on watching Hopper's half of the Sicilian scene first to find his character.
- Drexel's dreadlocks came from the Dracula prop box.
Apex Mountain
- Saul Rubinek – slam dunk Apex Mountain. There's never been more of an Apex Mountain candidate.
- Tony Scott – 'True Romance' to 'Crimson Tide' is when his career was in the best shape. The most critically acclaimed movie he ever made.
- Christian Slater – could be this, but 'Pump Up the Volume' might edge it out because he invented podcasting.
- Patricia Arquette – career-wise it's Boyhood (Oscar), but personally it's 'True Romance'.
- Bronson Pinchot – a not-bad 11-year run from 'Risky Business' to 'Beverly Hills Cop' to Perfect Strangers to 'True Romance'. Probably became an unfair punching bag after.
- Christopher Walken – his early '90s stretch (SNL in '92 with Trivial Psychic, 'True Romance' in '93, 'Pulp Fiction' in '94) was peak Walken awareness, but Deer Hunter is the actual Apex Mountain.
Picking nits
- How much money does a movie theater manager have to buy a call girl for an employee's birthday?
- Alabama's only been a call girl for four days – the classic movie trope of 'I'm a hooker but only since last Thursday.'
- Would Clarence and Alabama really get out of the Beverly Ambassador at the end? A thousand cops, both covered in blood, carrying a suitcase.
Who won the movie?
- Tarantino – this movie plus 'Reservoir Dogs' changed movies forever. The 1996-2000 run it helped set up is one of the best five-year movie stretches ever.
- Tony Scott – proved he was more than sizzle, no steak. This became his calling card for serious film lovers.
- Gandolfini – got his big break from this movie, leading directly to The Sopranos.