True Romance (1993)

Gary Oldman has a Jamaican accent. That's the sentence I kept coming back to the morning after watching True Romance, because it tells you everything you need to know about what kind of film this is. It's wild, it's unpredictable, and it's got one of the most committed, utterly unhinged performances I've seen tucked away in what amounts to a supporting role. The man disappears completely. And that's just one piece of an ensemble that reads like someone raided a who's who of Hollywood cool and somehow got them all to show up.

I was pointed towards True Romance by a recommendation, and I'll be honest, I went in with only a loose sense of what I was getting myself into. I knew Quentin Tarantino wrote the script, so I figured there'd be sharp dialogue and some violence. What I wasn't prepared for was how genuinely unpredictable the whole thing would be. Scene to scene, I had no idea where it was heading, and that's a rare and brilliant feeling. Too many films telegraph their punches. This one kept me completely on the back foot.

The cast is extraordinary. Dennis Hopper and Christopher Walken share a scene together that is, frankly, one of the best things I've watched in a long time. Two performers at the absolute top of their game, trading lines in what is essentially a two-hander standoff, and you genuinely cannot take your eyes off either of them. I won't say more than that because if you haven't seen it, you deserve to experience it fresh. But it's the kind of scene people mean when they talk about why they love films.

And then there's Oldman. Playing a character so far removed from anything you'd expect from him, with that accent, that look, that energy. It's a short role but it burrows into your brain. The supporting cast across the board brings that same level of commitment, which is a credit to director Tony Scott, who keeps the whole chaotic thing moving with real momentum. It never drags. It never lets you get comfortable.

The central relationship at the heart of the story is what gives the film its pulse, though. There's a genuine warmth and romantic energy running underneath all the mayhem, and it stops the whole thing from feeling like style over substance. You're rooting for these people even as everything around them descends into absolute carnage. That balance is hard to pull off and True Romance pulls it off with confidence.

I think what surprised me most was how funny it is. Tarantino's writing has always had that quality, the ability to make you laugh right up until the moment something violent or shocking pulls the rug out, and it's all over this script. The dialogue crackles. Characters feel vivid and real even when they're being completely ridiculous. It's that same energy that makes his best work so rewatchable, and this absolutely fits into that company.

Four stars from me. True Romance is a proper highlight of 90s cinema, exactly as good as the recommendation promised, and then some. If you've been sleeping on it the way I was, do yourself a favour.

Rating: ★★★★  | Year: 1993  | Watched: 2025-04-08

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