Review of True Romance (1993) by Eddygregs — 19 Apr 2015

Shy under-achiever falls in love with the hooker who was his birthday present and they get married but the whirlwind romance is heading for some complications... like hitmen and psycho drug dealers.

Quentin Tarantino’s True Romance script is an elaborate, extended fantasy that sees a geeky shop assistant transformed into a great lover, a vengeful vigilante and, ultimately, a smooth criminal. Meanwhile, the story lacks any kind of emotional or moral consequence: the hero gets his father killed, the heroine guns down a cop during a drug deal gone sour, but they both drive off happily into the sunset, untainted by the mayhem they have left in their wake.

Are we expected to buy into this bloody fairytale? Are we supposed to like these self-obsessed, homicidal maniacs? The answer to both these questions is a resounding yes, because the wishes being fulfilled here belong to former geeky shop assistant Quentin Tarantino, and he had the talent to flesh out his fantasy with vividly-drawn characters spouting instantly classic dialogue during jaw-dropping set-pieces.

This is not only an immensely entertaining violent action but genuinely romantic at times.