Movies - TV
True Romance Took So Long To Make That Quentin Tarantino's References Became Retro
By BILL BRIA
When a young and struggling Quentin Tarantino wrote “True Romance,” the script featured as many character quirks and pop culture references as any of Tarantino's future works would. “True Romance,” however, took six years to get made after he wrote it, making the script's current references retro and ironically establishing Tarantino as a bit of a hipster.
Tarantino said on his screenwriter's commentary track for the film, “[Clarence] says, ‘Who's your favorite actor?’ and [Alabama] says ‘Burt Reynolds.’ Alright. Well, Burt Reynolds was a big star when I wrote this script! [...] And the second thing he asked her [...] ‘Who do you find sexy?’ and she says ‘Mickey Rourke.’ Well, Mickey Rourke was the man when I wrote this script!”
By 1993, when “True Romance” was released, Rourke and Reynolds were considered washed-up, making Alabama's choices a little left-of-center and melancholy as opposed to up-to-date. With the addition of popular techno and contemporary rock tracks, the film was even more of a mélange marvel, a movie both charmingly retro and totally of its time.