True Romance (released in the Philippines as Breakaway)<ref>{ { cite news|last=Sulat|first=Bert B. Jr.|title=A truly twisted thriller|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Ja8mAAAAIBAJ&sjid=FAsEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6562%2C1846635|access-date=June 20, 2023|work=Manila Standard|publisher=Kamahalan Publishing Corp.|date=June 13, 1995|page=21|quote=Next from Tarantino were scripts that led to True Romance (recently shown here in a chopped-up edition and retitled Breakaway)...|archive-date=June 19, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230619191030/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Ja8mAAAAIBAJ&sjid=FAsEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6562,1846635|url-status=live}}</ref> is a 1993 American romantic crime film directed by Tony Scott and written by Quentin Tarantino. It features an ensemble cast led by Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette, with Dennis Hopper, Val Kilmer, Gary Oldman, Brad Pitt, and Christopher Walken in supporting roles. Slater and Arquette portray newlyweds on the run from the Mafia after stealing a shipment of drugs.True Romance began life as an early script by Tarantino; he sold the screenplay in order to finance his debut feature film, Reservoir Dogs (1992). It is regarded by proponents as a cross-section of writer Tarantino and director Scott's respective trademarks, including a Southern California setting, pop cultural references, and stylized violence punctuated by slow motion.
Though initially a box-office failure, the film's positive reviews, with critics praising the dialogue, characters, and off-beat style, helped it earn a cult following. It has come to be considered one of Scott's best films and one of the best American films of the 1990s.
Plot
At a Detroit theater showing kung fu films, Alabama Whitman strikes up a conversation with Elvis Presley fanatic Clarence Worley. They later have sex at his downtown apartment and passionately french kiss, establishing a strong and trusty relationship. After, on the rooftop, Alabama tearfully confesses that she is a call girl hired by Clarence's boss as a birthday present but has fallen in love with him. The two get married the next day at City Hall. An apparition of Elvis visits Clarence and convinces him to kill Alabama's abusive pimp, Drexl Spivey. Going to the brothel where Alabama worked, he shoots and kills Drexl and takes a bag he assumes contains Alabama's belongings. Back at the apartment, he and Alabama discover it contains a large amount of cocaine that Drexl had stolen from two drug pushers.
The couple visits Clarence's estranged father Clifford, a retired cop, for help. He tells Clarence the police assume Drexl's murder is a gang killing committed in revenge for the murdered dealers. After the couple leave for Los Angeles, Clifford is interrogated by Vincenzo Coccotti, consigliere to mobster "Blue Lou Boyle", who had hired Drexl to steal and distribute the cocaine on his behalf. He reveals that the mob knows about Clarence's theft since they found his driver's license near Drexl's body. Clifford, realizing he will die anyway, mockingly defies Coccotti, who shoots him dead. One of his men then finds an L.A. address taped to Clifford's refrigerator.
In L.A., Clarence and Alabama meet Clarence's aspiring actor friend Dick Ritchie, who introduces him to actor and production assistant Elliot Blitzer. He reluctantly agrees to broker the sale of the drugs to his boss, legendary film producer Lee Donowitz. While Clarence is out buying lunch, Coccotti's enforcer Virgil finds Alabama in her motel room and beats her for information. Alabama fights back, using hairspray to set fire to Virgil's clothes and putting nail polish in his eyes before grabbing his sawed-off shotgun, stabbing him with a corkscrew, and shooting him to death in a maniacal rage. Clarence tends to Alabama's wounds, and they discuss their future together.
Elliot is pulled over for speeding and gets charged when his mistress spills a bag of cocaine. To stay out of jail, he agrees to wear a wire and record the drug deal between Clarence and Donowitz for police detectives Dimes and Nicholson. Coccotti's men also learn about where the deal will take place from Dick's stoner roommate Floyd. Clarence, Alabama, Dick, and Elliot go to Donowitz's suite at the Ambassador Hotel with the drugs. In the elevator, a suspicious Clarence threatens Elliot at gunpoint but is persuaded by Elliot's pleading for mercy.
