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True Romance
15 Oct 2004 by pb
Thank you to the 37signals folks for a chance to post on SvN. I hope I can live up to the standards set by the owners and other guest posters.
I’ll start with a little junket on what could be my favorite movie and that I’m surprised doesn’t get more air time: True Romance. I was one of the few to see it on the big screen back in ‘93 which could cloud my judgement. But it never seems to get the attention or accolades that Res Dogs and Pulp Fiction do.
First, I challenge you to come up with a finer cast: Christian Slater, Rosanna Arquette, Dennis Hopper, Christopher Walken, Brad Pitt, Gary Oldman, Val Kilmer, Bronson Pinchot, Samuel Jackson, Michael Rappaport, James Gandolfini, Chris Penn, Tom Sizemore, Kevin Corrigan & Saul Rubinek. Jack Black was left on the cutting room floor so check out the new DVD for his performance. OK, it’s lite on actresses.
Second, the Walken/Hopper scene is among the best in all of film.
“Come again” you might say? Yes. Slater/Oldman is also exquisite. Pitt’s 5 lines, supposedly the only ones not in the script, steal the show. Kilmer’s character is terrific despite being unseen. And Alabama…er…Arquette is adorable. I know Slater brings mixed emotions but he’s pretty good here.
Three, Tarantino’s script rates with his other best efforts but I appreciate Tony Scott’s direction. Tarantino’s can be a bit clubby for me, as if you’re missing a bunch of stuff if you’re not in the know. I like Scott’s injection of a little Hollywood into it. Sure, the language and violence are tough. Leave mom at home.
And it’s a good DVD to own. Practically every scene can be watched on its own. If you haven’t seen it, throw it on your queue, or better, buy the new edition DVD.
Addendum: the [email protected] thing was more convenience than anonymity. For the record, I’m Patrick Breitenbach and am a developer evangelist at PayPal. Reach me at pbreitenbach at gmail dot com.
20 comments so far (Post a Comment)
15 Oct 2004 | Gmoney said...
so would this post be signal or noise?
15 Oct 2004 | pb said...
You should be so lucky! I almost posted about Apple.
15 Oct 2004 | Koen said...
Nice, I never heard of that movie before. It's certified fresh on rottentomatoes.com so it's bound to be good.
Now I'm curious and I have to go rent it ASAP. :)
15 Oct 2004 | brainpipe said...
Amen. "You tell the angels in Heaven you never seen evil so singularly personified as you did in the face of the man who killed you." (Or something like that.)
15 Oct 2004 | Cleve said...
1) totally agree. I first saw it on video and when it was over immediately rewound to watch again. It's a gem.
2) Wasn't it Patricia, not Rosanna, Arquette?
15 Oct 2004 | Matthew Oliphant said...
And, since no one else has been nice enough to say it (:P), welcome to guest posterdom, pb. :)
15 Oct 2004 | Dan Benjamin said...
This is one of my favorite movies as well.
And in answer to Cleve: yes, it was Particia Arquette (age 36) and not Rosanna Arquette, age 45. Christian Slater is 35.
I know this because IMDB knows this.
http://imdb.com/name/nm0000225/
15 Oct 2004 | dusoft said...
Patricia is just gorgeous (haven't seen this one, but I saw her in Stigmata).
15 Oct 2004 | Martin said...
I plan to get a hold of the DVD and re-cut it as a Divx to playback the way Tarantino intended in his original script - answers first, questions later.
It's a good movie, but would have worked better with his characteristical back and forth plot weavings.
15 Oct 2004 | Michael Spina said...
Yeah, that's one of my favorites. I'd snatch up the DVD, but I already have the VHS and have tons of other movies on my wish list. Does the DVD add enough to make it worth it?
"I think I'll take that cigarette now."
15 Oct 2004 | Eamon said...
A finer cast than your lily-white troupe of Entertainment Weekly fodder? I'll take that challenge:
Raul Julia, Ming-Na Wen, Simon Callow, and Roshan Seth, plus Andrew Bryniarski, Grand Bush, Jean-Claude Van Damme, and Kylie freaking Minogue.
What cinematic triumph was this? 1994's second greatest knockout smash-- after George Foreman's triumph as oldest heavyweight champion ever-- Street Fighter: The Movie. Truly inspired casting, plus the greatest hero-villain exchange ever in the history of celluloid:
Chun Li : My father saved his village at the cost of his own life. You had him shot as you ran away. A hero at a thousand paces!
Bison : I'm sorry... I don't remember any of it.
Chun Li : You don't remember?
Bison : For you, the day Bison graced your village was the most important day of your life. But for me... it was Tuesday.
15 Oct 2004 | Edward Crossing said...
Hi there,
I think you should be original about your online identity mate, there's already a very successful pb out there, and I hope you're not trying to trade on his name. Perhaps calling yourself pBreitenbach would make things clearer, as I, for one, thought you might be Paul Bausch. Ah well, maybe the real pb will be let on here soon.
Cheers,
Ed.
15 Oct 2004 | Andy said...
Greatest cast?
A Bridge Too Far: Dirk Bogarde, James Caan, Michael Caine, Sean Connery, Edward Fox, Elliott Gould, Gene Hackman, Anthony Hopkins, Ryan O'Neal, Laurence Olivier, Robert Redford, Maximilian Schell, Liv Ullmann, John Ratzenberger, Richard Attenborough, Omar N. Bradley, Winston Churchill, Charles de Gaulle, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Adolf Hitler, Bernard L. Montgomery, George S. Patton, Erwin Rommel, Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Also light on actresses, but how many times do you get to see Hitler and John Ratzenberger (America's finest actor) in the same movie?
15 Oct 2004 | andrew said...
My favorite memory of True Romance...
I was in England on a study abroad program when this movie came out. I had already seen it, loved it.
One of the girls on the program was this really prim and proper, slightly snooty southern belle. Her frattie boyfriend came to visit for a week or so, and she just thought it would be, oh gosh, so nice to go see a movie called True Romance.
The look on her face when they got home was priceless. There was NOTHING romantic about THAT! Hah hah!
16 Oct 2004 | Paperhead said...
*likes a challenge
Glengarry Glen Ross
The Great Escape
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest
The Godfather
Casablanca
The Philadelphia Story
M*A*S*H
18 Oct 2004 | Grant said...
It's a great movie, though I'm not sure how this is a big secret find or anything.
The marquee scenes are fun to watch, but I personally enjoy a lot of the secondary bits more. Bronson Pinchot steals the show from Pitt after he does his stoner turn.
19 Oct 2004 | Martin Rack said...
> Walken / Hopper
Best Scene ever ( after De Niro / Al Pacino in Heat ).
27 Oct 2004 | Nova Silverpill said...
I agree with you, and have been making the same argument since Pulp Fiction came out. Nobody has ever agreed with me, or given me a second thought much less a nod. This is redemption!
