Everything You Need To Know About 'True Romance' For Valentine's Day

Long before Pulp Fiction dropped into movie theaters like an atom bomb, and forever changed how independent films were both seen and made, the film’s creators, Quentin Tarantino and Roger Avary, worked together on another screenplay. Titled The Open Road, it was about, in Avary’s own words, “an odd-couple relationship between an uptight businessman and an out-of-control hitchhiker who travel into a hellish Midwestern town together.” Avary had trouble finishing the script, so he asked Tarantino, his friend and co-worker from the video rental store Video Archives, to help him out. 500 pages later, Tarantino was finished, and the script was complete. The two writers sat down and fine-tuned the script for The Open Road, but there was no ignoring the fact that it was no longer a movie, but practically a miniseries, and needed at least two movies for its story to be fully told. The screenplay for The Open Road would become the stuff of filmmaking legend for both Tarantino and Avary, as it would go on to be split up and made into two different movies. One of those movies was Natural Born Killers, which was directed by Oliver Stone, and would become the subject of numerous controversies upon its release. The other movie was True Romance, which was directed by the late Tony Scott, and opened in theaters on September 10, 1993.

Clarence Worley (Christian Slater) is a lonely and somewhat awkward comic book store employee in Detroit who plans on celebrating his birthday at a local movie theater to watch a triple feature of martial arts films starring the late and legendary Sonny Chiba. (FYI: Those three films are The Street Fighter, Return of the Street Fighter, and Sister Street Fighter.) It’s there that he crosses paths with Alabama Whitman (Patricia Arquette), a beautiful and sweet-natured young woman who is also there to enjoy that very same triple feature. After conversing with each other over pie at a local diner, followed by Clarence giving her a tour of the comic book store where he works, the two end up having sex in Clarence’s apartment. Alabama then drops a bombshell on Clarence: she is a sex worker who was hired by Clarence’s boss to keep him company, and show him a good time for his birthday…only to realize that she has completely fallen in love with him. Clarence reveals that his feelings for Alabama are entirely mutual, and the two head down to the courthouse to become husband and wife the very next day.

To officially start their new life together, Clarence goes to the home/base of operations of Drexl Spivey (Gary Oldman), Alabama’s pimp, and tells him that Alabama will no longer be working for him. Drexl doesn’t take the news very well, and their brutal, no-holds-barred fight ends with Clarence taking out his revolver, and killing both Drexl and his enforcer, Marty (Paul Bates), right before he grabs a suitcase of Alabama’s clothes and heads back home. The two lovebirds soon discover that her suitcase isn’t filled with clothes, but with a large amount of cocaine that Drexl had stolen during a previous drug deal. So Clarence and Alabama decide to drive from Detroit to California, where one of Clarence’s closest friends, a struggling actor named Dick Ritchie (Michael Rapaport), will arrange a meeting with a Hollywood producer who has enough money to buy the drugs all at once, and make it possible for Clarence and Alabama to live comfortably for the rest of their lives. However, Clarence and Alabama are completely unaware that their possession of the cocaine has resulted in them being hunted by the cops, who have become aware of the drug deal they’re trying to orchestrate, and by a group of mobsters who hired Drexl to steal and distribute the cocaine on their behalf. Which means that this love story can only end exactly how it began: with gunfire, bloodshed, and hallucinations of Elvis Presley giving advice and moral support in the bathroom.

Tarantino wrote the screenplay for True Romance with the hope of directing it as his first major film. But he changed his mind about directing it, and sold the screenplay so he could instead write and direct Reservoir Dogs. Once Tony Scott was hired to direct the film, he stayed faithful to what Tarantino had written, except for the ending, which he insisted on changing. Not because he wasn’t capable of ending the story with one partner dead, and another diving deeper into a life of crime (this is the same man who directed Revenge, after all, and if you’ve seen it, you remember how brutal that movie was), but because he fell in love with Clarence and Alabama. And because he fell in love with the main characters, he truly felt they had earned their happy ending in the story he was telling, which was more of a romantic fairytale than Tarantino had originally intended. When Tarantino saw the final product for himself, he realized Scott was right, and that this was the best and only way True Romance could end.

As for everything else about True Romance? It contains all of the things that are loved, hated, and easily recognized in the works of both Quentin Tarantino and Tony Scott: incredibly dark humor, memorable dialogue, intense and frenetic camera work accompanying every action scene (even one scene where the characters are simply riding a rollercoaster), and brutal acts of violence that make an R rating both necessary and unavoidable. Two standout scenes are best remembered and always brought up (for very good reason) whenever True Romance is discussed. The first is known as “the Sicilian scene,” which features Clarence’s father, Clifford Worley (the late Dennis Hopper), being assaulted and interrogated in his home by Vincenzo Coccotti (Christopher Walken) and his crew of mobsters, who demand to know the whereabouts of Clarence and Alabama. Clifford is fully aware of who he’s dealing with, and that they have every intention of killing him, no matter what they’re told. So he decides to go out on his own terms, and piss them off so much that killing him will mean more to them than getting the information they came for. This leads to Clifford asking for a cigarette right before telling Vincenzo and his men about the true history of the Sicilian people.

Some people absolutely love this scene of Christopher Walken and Dennis Hopper butting heads and facing each other down with no quarter given. Others hate it with every fiber of their being, simply because it contains the N-word being used in the film as a punchline by Hopper’s character. It’s just one of the reasons why there is still beef between Quentin Tarantino (who has said that he grew up around older Black men in his home who would share straight-out-of-the-barbershop theories and opinions like these) and Spike Lee, who has accused Tarantino of wanting to be “an honorary Black man” with his seemingly constant need to include usage of the word in his films.

The second scene is the fight sequence between Alabama, who has just returned to her motel room after accompanying Clarence to his rollercoaster negotiation of when and where the cocaine will be sold, and Virgil (the late, great James Gandolfini), who is waiting for her with shotgun in hand, and demanding to know where Clarence and the cocaine can be found. Alabama has no intention of answering either question, and simply pretends that Virgil is in the wrong room with the wrong person. Virgil doesn’t believe a single word coming out of her mouth, and despite how pretty and delicate he finds her, it does not stop him from pummeling Alabama with his bare hands, and tossing her around the entire room, followed by him explaining to her what it feels like to kill someone for the very first time.

According to Tarantino, the MPAA had very few complaints about the majority of the scene in which Alabama is assaulted by Virgil. It wasn’t until Alabama started fighting back against Virgil by stabbing him, burning him, whacking him over the head with a toilet tank cover, and then shooting him repeatedly with his shotgun before screaming in rage while covered in her own blood, that they began to take issues with what they were seeing, as they thought Alabama’s behavior was too animalistic and unpleasant to look at.

Besides those two standout scenes, True Romance is best remembered not just for the performances by Slater, Arquette, Hopper, and Walken but for its large ensemble cast of familiar faces before they became even more famous and well-known for their future performances: Gary Oldman as Drexl; the late Tom Sizemore and Chris Penn as LAPD detectives Nicholson and Dimes; Brad Pitt as Floyd, Dick Ritchie’s roommate who is always high and is rarely ever seen leaving the couch; Samuel L. Jackson as Big Don, the cunnilingus and analingus-loving drug dealer who is betrayed and killed by Drexl for his suitcase of cocaine; Michael Rapaport as Dick Ritchie (and fortunately, he isn’t nearly as annoying here as he is in the fifth season of Justified, or in real life); Saul Rubinek as Lee Donowitz, the irascible, Joel Silver-like producer who agrees to buy the cocaine from Clarence after being impressed with his style and his attitude; Bronson Pinchot as Elliot Blitzer, the actor/production assistant who agrees to help Clarence with his deal and ends up as an informant for the cops; Paul Ben-Victor and Kevin Corrigan as two of the mobsters on Clarence and Alabama’s trail, Michael Beach (who took a break from being the Worst Husband Ever in Black movies like Soul Food and Waiting To Exhale) as another LAPD detective working alongside Nicholson and Dimes; the late Ed Lauter as Captain Quiggle, who gives Nicholson and Dimes the green light to go after Clarence and Alabama; Conchata Ferrell as the woman who reads a script with Dick Ritchie as part of his audition; and last but definitely not least: James Gandolfini as Virgil, who underestimates Alabama at his own peril, and ends up dying very painfully at her hands as a result. (Gandolfini’s performance in the film also helped him win the role of Tony Soprano in the HBO series The Sopranos, after the show’s casting director, Susan Fitzgerald, saw his scene opposite Arquette, and asked him to audition for the role.)

It would also be foolish to spend all this time discussing True Romance without giving a shout-out to Val Kilmer, and his brief but memorable performance as Elvis Presley, who appears to Clarence during his visits to the bathroom so that he can offer guidance whenever it is truly needed. However, the filmmakers wanted to avoid any possible legal troubles with the estate of Elvis Presley, so Elvis in this film (who is seen in glimpses, and whose face is never actually seen on camera) is credited only as “Mentor.”

Much like his legendary and beloved portrayal of Hard Harry in Pump Up The Volume, Christian Slater plays Clarence Worley as someone who surprises himself, and the people around him, by using his brain and his words for maximum effect to get what he needs and to get his point across, and ends up with more admirers or more opponents as a result. Whether it’s convincing a big-shot Hollywood producer to spend a quarter million of his own money to buy stolen cocaine, or lying his ass off about how he came to possess that stolen cocaine in the first place, it is very clear that Clarence is in way over his head, and is practically juggling chainsaws while walking on a tightrope with no safety net. But that won’t stop him from trying to grab the brass ring with both hands, for himself and for Alabama, and Slater’s performance makes it utterly delightful to watch. (It’s also clear that Clarence is the fictionalized version of Tarantino who contains all of the personality traits — garrulous, charismatic, hot-tempered, possesses an encyclopedic knowledge of all things pop culture — that the writer-director has become known for over the years, and even Tarantino himself has said that True Romance is the closest he’s come to writing an autobiography.)

Despite her recent foray into sex work as a regular source of income, Alabama refuses to be disrespected or looked down upon by Clarence, or by anyone else, because of it, and she also refuses to be seen as “damaged goods, or…Florida white trash.” She is kind, friendly, fiercely loyal, and wears her heart on her sleeve without apology. (She also has questionable opinions about Persians, which Arquette wasn’t entirely fond of when she first read the script, and tried to make that work in her favor during filming.) Alabama also proves to be tough as nails, and though it’s incredibly hard to watch her being attacked by Virgil, it’s impossible not to cheer her on as she refuses to give him what he wants, especially when she gets the upper hand, and walks away from that fight as the last one standing. True Romance wouldn’t work nearly as well if the audience isn’t won over by Alabama, and convinced that she is worth moving heaven and earth to be with, and Arquette does exactly that from the moment she spills her popcorn all over Clarence. If anything, her best moment in the film is Alabama quietly looking at Clarence, as the camera slowly zooms in on her face, and shows her slowly falling for him as he flips through the pages of a comic book, with Charles & Eddie’s “Wounded Bird” playing on the soundtrack. So when Alabama looks Clarence in the eye, and vows that she will never lie to him again, and that her stance on monogamy is unbreakable? You believe every single word.

True Romance is all about Clarence and Alabama’s unconventional path to living happily ever after (which also includes having incredibly hot sex in phone booths while traveling down that path), and though their chemistry is off the charts (partly because Slater and Arquette were attracted to each other off-set, but chose not to act on it), the original ending that Tarantino had in mind for the film was something completely different. It involved Clarence dying during the closing gunfight between the LAPD, Coccotti’s men, and Donowitz’s bodyguards; Alabama taking the money for herself before crossing the Mexican border; and revealing via narration that she blames Clarence for getting himself killed, while not sounding very upset or grief-stricken about his death. It’s this version of Alabama who will go on to become a professional thief who partners with Mr. White, before the two end up going their separate ways, and he joins an ill-fated diamond robbery with five other criminals.

The film received positive reviews from critics upon its release, but was a box-office failure. It wasn’t until Tarantino gained fame and name recognition thanks to Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction that True Romance gained more attention and popularity on both home video and cable, which helped it to become the beloved cult classic that it is today. Tarantino’s filmmaking career would continue to flourish, with films like Jackie Brown (another unconventional romance, only this one centered on a woman in her mid-forties and a man in his late fifties, and its maturity is partly why a lot of Tarantino fans consider this his best film), Kill Bill, Inglourious Basterds, and Once Upon A Time…in Hollywood, and Tony Scott continued to make his mark with Crimson Tide, Enemy of the State, Man on Fire, and Unstoppable, before his death by suicide in 2012.

If you’ve never seen it, and if you’re looking for something romantic to watch on Valentine’s Day, or any other day of the year, True Romance is an excellent choice for your viewing pleasure. Especially if you like the idea of watching a romance where someone’s grand gesture of love is not standing outside the bedroom window with a boombox in hand, but shooting an abusive pimp in the groin and face multiple times to guarantee the safety of their beloved.

True Romance is available for rental on Amazon Prime Video and Vudu.