True Romance ★★½ 1993 (R) Geeky Clarence (Slater) and wide-eyed call girl Alabama (Arquette) meet and fall instantly in love (and marriage). The inept duo inadvertantly steals her pimp's coke and they head to L.A. with the mob in pursuit. Gem performances in small roles include Walken's icily debonair mafioso; Clarence's dad (Hopper), an ex-cop who runs afoul of Walken; Pitt's space-case druggie; Oldman's crazed pimp; and the ghost of Elvis (Kilmer), whom Clarence talks to in times of stress. Horrific violence mixed with very black humor clicks most of the time. Tarantino helped finance "Reservior Dogs" when he sold this script, his first. Unrated version also available. 116m/C VHS, DVD. Christian Slater, Patricia Arquette, Gary Oldman, Brad Pitt, Val Kilmer, Dennis Hopper, Christopher Walken, Samuel L. Jackson, Christopher Penn, Bronson Pinchot, Michael Rapaport, Saul Rubinek, Conchata Ferrell, James Gandolfini, Tom Sizemore, Ed Lauter, Maria Pitillo, Gregory Sporleder, Kevin Corrigan, Michael Beach, Frank Adonis, Victor Argo, Paul Ben-Victor, Paul Bates;
Director:
Tony Scott;
Writer:
Quentin Tarantino;
Writer:
Jeffrey L. Kimball;
Cameo:
Hans Zimmer, Mark Mancina.
