CHRISTIAN ACTION MOVIE REVIEW: True Romance (1993)
- GENRE: Thriller / Action
- ACTORS: Christian Slater, Patricia Arquette, Brad Pitt, James Gandolfini, Christopher Walken, Gary Oldman, Val Kilmer, Dennis Hopper, Saul Rubinek, Bronson Pinchot, Michael Rapaport, Tom Sizemore. Also a brief appearance by the top grossing actor of all time, Samuel L. Jackson.
- RATING: R [1. The “Director’s Cut” which I rented from Netflix was UNRATED.]
- PARENTAL NOTE: Not intended for children or teenagers. Bad language and questionable situations. Violence. Sex. Gangsters. Prostitution. Drug usage and sale. Brief nudity. If you can think of any other bad element found in movies, it’s probably in TRUE ROMANCE too, and I just forgot to mention it. The overriding message in this film is: Crime Pays!
- INTENDED AUDIENCE: This movie is intended for fans of the genre, and will almost certainly not be appreciated by others. I’m sure the film makers think this movie is appropriate for adults. I’m not sure that it is.
- GENERAL PLOT: (No spoilers) The two leading characters (played by Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette) meet in a theater, sleep together that night and get married the next day. They end up with a suitcase full of drugs and are on the run, a half step ahead of the gangsters whose drugs they stole, and the cops.
- REVIEW: This film has a lot to offer for fans of the genre. Lots of action. Shooting, fights, reckless car driving, etc. The acting is superb. My review standards are much more foregiving than most Christian film critics. I can look past the cursing (almost non-stop in this movie). I can look past the gratuitous violence, which is, again, almost non-stop. I can see past the initial illicit relationship. Whether their marriage the first day after meeting “cures” the immoral relationship, or just compounds it, is debatable. This film has some really evil characters, balanced by some really likable characters. There are even some characters we can both love and hate. The problem presented with this film is that even the really “nice” people are drug dealers. And without giving any spoilers, it’s fair to say that their life of crime definately DID PAY! This is just the sort of film that respectible Christians say Hollywood should not make. For good reason–it’s trash. Yet, even as trash, it is[3. perhaps unfortunately] completely entertaining.
- RECOMMENDATION: This is an “Action” movie. Many people will be highly offended by every movie in this genre because of the violence, bad language and other questionable elements, as mentioned above. Except for the extreme bad moral message that crime does pay, I could easily rate this movie with 4 or 5 stars. As it is, I’m hard pressed to recommend it for your casual viewing at all.
- RATING (out of 5 stars):
MOVIE RATING SYSTEM:
Start with zero (0) out of five (5) possible STARS
- Add one STAR if it looks like the movie was made by professional film makers–not 4 or 5 guys with a camcorder.
- Add one STAR if the film has a story, theme or plot (optional for horror and/or zombie movies); or if the movie makes any sense.
- Add additional STARS for special effects, acting, good moral message(s), realistic zombies, scariness, interesting theme or plot and the like.
- Subtract STARS for extreme bad acting, COMPLETELY awful themes/messages, overall INCREDIBLE trashiness, graphic and persistent lewdness, and the like.