True Romance (Director's Cut) (Wide Screen) > Reviews > Sex, Drugs And The King

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Loved it
Story	Outstanding
Characters / Performances	Outstanding
Special Effects	Standard
Soundtrack	Outstanding

Advantages:	Amazing cast, great storyline, action aplenty .
Disadvantages:	Maybe the best characters have the smallest parts .

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

I said in my last opinion that because this was my number one film, I would proceed to write an opinion on this film to make up for the lack of information in that op. If anybody has not seen this film then even if this review doesn't sell it to you, I would really recommend you to see it to give your own verdict.

The story is written by Quentin Tarantino so that should easily find some sort of audience, especially the violent, action minded type. Maybe that is my only downside of this film, the fact that he only writes the film and does not direct it. Despite this, Tony Scott (brother of Ridley Scott) does a very good job of adapting the Tarantino story to the big screen. For anybody who hasn't heard of Tony Scott, he has a very impressive C.V of films behind him. These include, Top Gun, Crimson Tide and Enemy Of The State. Even though Tarantino was only credited to writing the film I feel he had something to do with the casting side of things because the all star cast typifies a Tarantino directed film.

The Cast

Clarence Worley:- The main character of the film, played by Christian Slater. Quite a poor guy who has the marvellous dead end job of working in a comic book store. He seems pretty happy with it though because he doesn't seem to have any ambitions in which to move to a higher career. Also has a morbid fascination with Elvis Presley who he believes visits him and is his mentor. His fascination is highlighted by the line "If I really had to f*** a guy, I'd f*** Elvis", rightly replied to him by the line "I would f*** Elvis, when he was alive but not now". He also has a very big interest in kung fu films, brought to our attention in the film by the fact that he goes to see this type of film, every year, on his birthday.

Alabama Worley (nee Whitman):- Played by Patricia Arquette of the famous Arquette family, she is a callgirl, not a whore because there is a difference. Not a very experienced one I have to add, in fact a callgirl with only four days experience behind her. Her third assignment is to find a man named Clarence Worley who will be at the local theatre watching a movie because it is his birthday. She proceeds to fall in love with Clarence, as does he and they go forth and get married the very next day. Not very realistic I hear you say, but Christian and Patricia make it quite believeable.

Elvis Presley (aka Mentor):- Played by Val Kilmer although you never really get a clear shot of his face. Doesn't actually get credited as Elvis but it is plain to see who he is. This is not a very big part for Val Kilmer but in the few sequences that he does get, he portrays the king quite well. As mentioned above in Clarence's write up, Elvis is the 'hero' of Clarence, his mentor who always seem to visit him in the bathroom, giving advice and explaining how much he adores him. Because Clarence idolises him so much, he takes all advice on hand resulting in a couple of moments in the film which are unexpected.

Clifford Worley:- The father of Clarence played by Dennis Hopper. An ex policeman who is now a security guard, he has never seen Clarence for three years until now. Just like Val Kilmer, Hopper doesn't really get a very big part in the film although his style of acting is recognisable. He is witty, straight talking and has a very refrained attitude towards his son, partly due to the fact that he hasn't seen him for so long, but also due to the fact that Clarence always reminds him of his ex wife. The result comes over as a small part with a strong performance.

Drexl Spivey:- Alabama's dreadlocked pimp played by British actor Gary Oldman. Again, another relatively small part but definetely one of my favourites. Drexl, very respected in the world of prostitution basically thinks he is black, thus the dreadlocks. He is a violent character and uses this to get his own way, in the form of recruiting his girls, maintaining a strong drug supply and keeping himself number one in the world of prostitution. To tell the truth, when I saw the film the first time, I didn't realise it was Gary Oldman, his make up is quite good. As usual though, Gary Oldman puts over an excellent performance and is worth watching the film for.

Dick Ritchie:- The best friend of Clarence played by Michael Rapaport. Dick is an aspiring actor and the first time we see him in the film is for an audition for a new series of T.J Hooker. Dick and Clarence go a long way back and when things go belly up for Clarence, Dick is who he turns to. Michael Rapaport is not a really well known actor as far as I am concerned but his last notable film that I saw was the Schwarzenegger film, The Sixth Day. This proves that he can get the big roles and the part he plays in this film, is played well.

Floyd:- The roommate of Dick played by Brad Pitt and arguably the star of the show. As Dick's roommate he just lies around the house all day smoking drugs and watching TV. I suppose he is what you would sometimes refer to as a 'stoner', but he really plays it well. His character provides some of the funniest and most entertaining parts of the film as he is constantly shouted at by Dick and basically has no clue of what is going on in the world around him. One of the highlights of the film that refer to Floyd is where Clarence and Dick are having a telephone conversation. Clarence is concerned that Dick didn't receive a letter he sent and Dick tells him he didn't get to read the last page of the letter as Floyd smoked it. An absolute timeless line.

Vincenzo Coccotti:- A Sicilian mafia leader played by the excellent Christopher Walken. Coccotti is an extremely violent character and I feel that the only man that could play him is indeed, Christopher Walken. Again, another small part but very well played. He is also involved in one of the highlights of the film in which he and Clifford Worley discuss the origins of Sicilians. This is very entertaining and culminates in a very bloody ending for Clifford. Another excellent piece of filmmaking which is more entertaining because of the fact that it is a 10 minute break in the film in which it bears no real connection to the plot.

Other fairly recognisable people starring in the film are Saul Rubinek (Lee Donowitz a hugely successful movie producer), Bronson Pinchot (The assistant to Lee Donowitz) and a less well known actor called Samuel L Jackson (We see him for about 90 seconds as a character called Big Don). I'm sorry it was a joke about him being less well known but watch out for him, he has a couple of good lines.

What is the film about?

Well, the basic story of the film is about how two people can come to love each other after one night of passion. Thats what I think it is anyway because this is how the film starts and even though the story sways to other subjects it always comes back to the love of these two characters.

One of the first turns the film takes, and the one that sets the course for the film is when Clarence tries to show how much he loves Alabama. In one of his bathroom scenes with Elvis Presley, he is advised to get rid of the pimp that ruled Alabama for four days, known as Drexl. This he thinks will seal his love and tells Alabama that he wants to go and see Drexl and get her belongings back. Of course in reality he is going to see Drexl in order to kill him. When he gets to the vice den he hands Drexl an envelope in which he claims he has put some pay off money. When Drexl opens the envelope and realises that there is nothing in it, things turn ugly. This may spoil it for you but Clarence kills Drexl and takes a bag from the den that he thinks contains Alabama's belongings. It hasn't but it does contain around $1 million worth of cocaine.

Clarence now thinks that the best thing to do is just sell the cocaine at a cut price and then live a good life with Alabama. Of course life isn't this perfect and both the mob and the police are in the way of Clarence as he tries to sell the contraband. This makes the film a non stop rollercoaster ride of action and thrills and I can promise that it will have you on the edge of your seat.

As I have mentioned above, make sure you look out for Samuel L. Jackson, the conversation between Dennis Hopper and Christopher Walken and of course the hilarious drug taking antics of Brad Pitt.

DVD Extras

As far as this subject goes, the region 2 dvd that I own only lists the extras as Interactive Menus and scene access. I am not sure whether any newer DVD has been released with more features than this. Again, if anyone knows about another release then please inform me.

Overall Verdict

The only thing I can describe this film as is violent. Therefore it comes with an '18' rating and is not really suitable for anyone under that age. Despite this, I actually watched the film when I was about 14 and it didn't affect me so if anybody of that age wanted to watch it I would say to parents that it is safe to watch. Of course it comes down to their discretion. If I have to give marks out for the film then there is no doubt that it has to be 10/10.

Prices

Although my research on prices doesn't go very far, I can tell you that Amazon.co.uk are currently selling the DVD for £12.99, or they have a special offer in which you can purchase True Romance and Goodfellas together for £25.98. They also sell it on VHS for £5.99. Of course Amazon has a marketplace where you can obtain new and used copies this DVD for usually cheaper prices.

For anyone who is interested there is an excellent site with a draft of the original script. It is - www.godamongdirectors.com/scripts/trueromance.shtml

This film also features an excellent soundtrack which I hope to write an opinion about in the near future.