MovieChat Forums > True Romance (1993) Discussion > Could Clarence Have Handled Virgil?

Could Clarence Have Handled Virgil?


This crossed my mind recently while watching this scene. I really think that had Clarence been in that motel room, things would've instantly gone south real quick for him. It's expressed many times in the film that when it comes to pulling these things off and covering his tracks, he's not a smart cookie at all (i.e, leaving his license in Drexyl's hand - I wonder if Clarence ever even realized it was missing). He also always acted like he had something to prove - he wanted to prove to Alabama (and Elvis) how loyal he was by killing Drexyl, and that really only worked in his favor because Drexyl happened to be sort of a mirror image of him and let his 'loose canon' tendencies get the better of him, and also because Marty was a bumbling idiot. I have no doubt in my mind that Clarence would've been totally caught off guard by Virgil; physically, Drexyl would've broken Clarence in half, and his cunning and wit was sharper than Clarence or Drexyl's.

I know that Virgil's downfall also comes down to him being a brash, egotistical *beep* (him getting up to check himself in the mirror), but I honestly think that Clarence wouldn't even notice the wine cork like Alabama did. It helps that Alabama is a woman, so she could appeal to Virgil's primal sensibilities and keep their little game going on a little further (I think the film tries to subtly point out that Alabama is really smarter and craftier than Clarence is, despite his grandiose posturing).

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I agree, one on one, Clarence wouldn't have stood much of a chance against Virgil. I also think Virgil would've been quick to kill Clarence, whereas he took his time torturing Alabama because he's a psychopath. Had Clarence showed up sooner, I honestly think the fight would've just ended quicker - Virgil would've been distracted, gone to kill Clarence, and then Alabama would just strike sooner. Either way, she was always going to kill Virgil.

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I feel like Virgil didn't kill her right away because he kind of didn't want to. He knew he had to, but he put it off.

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Love means never having to say you're ugly. - The Abominable Dr. Phibes

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