The Combination of Tony Scott’s Direction Style and Quentin Tarantino’s Writing Make ‘True Romance’ a Unique 90’s Cult Classic
Before Quentin Tarantino’s name became synonymous with directing, he found work as a young screenwriter with a distinctive voice.
True Romance marked the first feature length script Quentin Tarantino sold with Natural Born Killers being purchased right behind it. By his own admission, True Romance is Tarantino’s most autobiographical work. Although he had originally planned to direct the script, he eventually lost interest in it. The project then moved into the hands of Tony Scott.
True Romance tells the tale of a young film lover named Clarence who just can’t find that special someone. This is until boy “randomly” meets girl, Alabama, in a kung fu theater and the two immediately hit it off. If this sounds overly coincidental, it is. In actuality, Alabama is a call girl hired to show Clarence a good time. Still, serendipity being what it is, the two are immediately drawn to one another. This causes Clarence to take a stand against Alabama’s pimp Drexl, a chameleon-like performance from Gary Oldman. Clarence ends up killing Drexl and stealing a “fuckin’ lot” of cocaine. From there Clarence and Alabama embark on a mission to sell the cocaine and live together in happiness. All they have to do is get away from the people trying to kill them.
Tony Scott brings his own style to the film. Tarantino himself mentioned that he was unhappy with Scott’s script changes at first. Namely, the final product rearranged Tarantino’s signature non-linear style to something more chronological, as well as a change to a brighter, happier ending. Still, Tarantino later realized that the changes better suited Scott’s style of filmmaking and eventually gave the film his blessing.
True Romance stands as a beloved film from two filmmaking heavyweights. Scott’s colorful style of filmmaking combined with Tarantino’s slick back, cool dialogue make for an interesting mixture. Scott’s direction makes this film unapologetically a product of the 90’s, yet it still has that retro feel that most Tarantino films possess.
Despite positive critical reception and stellar performances from Christopher Walken and Gary Oldman, True Romance still bombed at the box office. Still, the film manages to maintain a cult following and is recognized as an early volume is the Tarantino canon.
To hear more about True Romance, check out our review. Click here to listen!
