MovieChat Forums > True Romance (1993) Discussion > Tarantino should be ashamed.

Tarantino should be ashamed.


I know it's never popular to speak negatively about a movie on here, but my god, after watching every other one of Tarantino's films (up to Django) and loving them, this one was pitiful.

Patricia Arquette (who plays Alabama) is just about the worst actress I have ever seen in my life. How she managed to continue her acting career after this movie is beyond me.

Anyway, the script itself is pretty good, and the rest of the cast (aside from Arquette) is outstanding. But it's really very obvious that Tarantino did not direct this film himself, because there is no way he would have let it turn out this bad.

The characters seem as if they would have been really deep and complex, but it's as if Tony Scott came and stomped on all of them to flatten them out to make it more palatable for general audiences. There's no mystery behind the characters, no intrigue.

But dammit, I kept rooting for Alabama to get killed in any one of those shoot outs because then I wouldn't have to listen to Arquette's horrible voice anymore.

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Wow. What a jackwagon.

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"Anyway, the script is pretty good."

Which was the extent of Tarantino's involvement. He didn't direct, he didn't cast, so you're anger should be at Tony Scott, not Tarantino.

I think you're the opposite of paranoid, I think you walk around with the delusion people like you.

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oliver stone more messed up natural born killers than tony did when he directed true romance. True Romance did have the same feel as other Quentin scripts.

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I stopped at reading when you say Patricia Arquette is a bad actress, she just won an Oscar you know??

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you don't need to win an oscar to be a good actress/actor.

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I think it's the best film he's ever been a part of. Only Reservoir Dogs comes close to beating it. I love Patricia Arquette's acting too.

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Its not a Tarantino movie, Schleprock.

Tarantino wrote the script. Tony Scott directed the movie. In fact the script was the first part of what would become Natural Born Killers. Put the two together and that was Tarantino's original story. He sold the scripts to fund other projects which is the reason neither of these movies have any of his trademarks. They aren't Tarantino movies. Its all on IMDB and well known, but I can see how easy it would be for you to miss it.

So you bitchin like a little girl over Tarantino's impact on this movie would be like ordering chicken and then complaining that it was steak when it arrived. Only a Moron would do that.


The Caretaker

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"The characters seem as if they would have been really deep and complex, but it's as if Tony Scott came and stomped on all of them to flatten them out to make it more palatable for general audiences. There's no mystery behind the characters, no intrigue."

Exactly. This movie pretty much took all the subtle nuances and themes Tarantino explored in his original script, and tossed them all aside in pursuit of flashy visuals and overwrought, superficial emotions. In hindsight, there couldn't have been a worse choice to direct Quentin's script than Tony friggin' Scott. The two are in no way compatible. One specializes in genre-blending and paying homage to old, trashy B-movies mixed with subtle characters and poignant themes sprinkled in, while the other specializes in making two-hour music videos like Top Gun.

I think had if it came out today, Tarantino would be jumping up and down about how they ruined his script. I think part of the reason he gave the movie a pass, was because it was the first time he managed to get one of his scripts sold. He probably just felt indebted to the filmmakers for finally bringing his vision to life and granting him a start in Hollywood. Considering how obsessively attached he is to his characters, I can only imagine how pissed he would've been today had if someone altered one of his scripts like that.

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I imagine a lot of people would beg to differ.

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Well, I liked the flick, but why would Tarantino be ashamed of what somebody else did to his script? Disappointed or angry, sure, but ashamed? He didn't cast it, he didn't direct it, he didn't edit it. No shame involved (or pride, either) unless he feels shamed by the writing, of course.

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