FILM 2140: TRUE ROMANCE (1993)

TRIVIA: Quentin Tarantino sold the script for fifty thousand dollars, which was the minimum amount of money that could be paid for a script at the time (according to WGA rules).

In a 2011 interview with the American Film Institute, Gary Oldman was asked to name his favorite role. He chose two: Lee Harvey Oswald in "JFK" (1991) and Drexl Spivey in this movie.

Although this movie was not directed by Quentin Tarantino, it is still considered part of the Tarantino universe. The two key pieces of evidence, is Lee Donowitz being the grandson of Sergeant Donnie Donowitz from Inglourious Basterds (2009), this being confirmed by Tarantino. The second piece of evidence, is the fact that Mr. White from Reservoir Dogs(1992) mentioned working with a girl named "Alabama".

Quentin Tarantino chose the name Alabama as an homage to Pam Grier, who was Alabama in Women in Cages (1971). The original script even had Clarence mention that the name sounded like a Pam Grier character.

The scene in which Nicky (Chris Penn) and Cody (Tom Sizemore) interrogate Elliot (Bronson Pinchot) was improvised by the three actors.

Brad Pitt improvised most of his lines.

The sunglasses, Christian Slater wears throughout the movie, can also be seen being worn by Uma Thurman in Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003). She takes them from Buck after she wakes from her coma, and wears them to shield her eyes from the florescent hospital lights.

The character of Blue Lou Boyle was originally a speaking part (with Robert De Niro as the definite favorite), but many cuts were made to Quentin Tarantino's script, including a scene featuring him. Instead, he's briefly mentioned as Vincent Coccotti's (Christopher Walken's) associate.

The screenplay of this movie was originally part of a five hundred page screenplay written by Quentin Tarantino and Roger Avary called "The Open Road". The other half of it was used for Natural Born Killers (1994). In both films, Tom Sizemore plays a cop.

The opening sequence features narration by female lead Arquette, and the song "You're So Cool" by Hans Zimmer, a catchy xylophone piece. All of this is strikingly similar to the 1973 film Badlands, which opens with narration by the female lead Spacek and a catchy xylophone piece which sounds eerily similar to You're So Cool, written some 20 yrs later for True Romance as an original score. Both films chronicle a cross-country crime spree with a young couple.

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