Learning from Movies: True Romance

A year before Pulp Fiction hit, Quentin Tarantino wrote (but didn’t direct or produce) a love story - True Romance.

It has a lot of Tarantino hallmarks – wild and wooly action, dark comedy, passionate love, Samuel L. Jackson (in a cameo, as Big Don), and lots of grindhouse cinema playing in the background – including Streetfighter, and The Mack.


One critic called it “violent to a fault” and “glam to the max.”

What you can learn from a part-time comic book store clerk and a call-girl who get married, steal some cocaine, and go to Hollywood to sell it, after the break.

• Here’s what rockabilly is all about: It’s mean, surly, nasty, and rude. It cares about nothing except rockin’ and rollin’, living fast, dying young, and leaving a good-looking corpse.
• You wouldn’t necessarily guess that true romance and Detroit would go together, but it just goes to prove that good things are out there, if you’re looking for them, and if you’re ready to take a chance.
• Lots of straight guys, if they have to have sex with another man, would have sex with Elvis.
• In 1993, Sonny Chiba was the greatest actor working in martial arts movies.
• There’s a difference between call-girls and whores.
• When it comes to relationships, be 100%.
• It’s tough to go wrong with Elvis as your mentor.
• Killing is easy. Getting away with it is hard.
• Know what your peace of mind is worth. Then you don’t have to barter, and you’re ready when the world goes pear-shaped.
• When Dennis Hopper tells you that you need to slow down, you might want to reexamine your life choices.
• Never mess with a guy who names his dog Rommel.
• It's okay to condescend to the stoner on the couch. He might talk about killing you, but he's too stoned to actually do it.
• Yes, that’s Val Kilmer as Elvis, the “Mentor.” Brad Pitt gets off the couch, once. James Gandolfini plays an LA hitman.

That’s the way it goes, but don’t forget: It goes the other way, too.