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I know I’m not alone when I write that I don’t believe in true love.
To this day, it’s eluded me — and before the day I die, I’m confident that I won’t discover it. And yet, these facts don’t shock me.
What — in fact — sometimes shocks me is the love that others miss out on.
And perhaps one of the best examples of this – in February, right around Valentine’s Day, when love is in the air — is that I have a love for movies, and I would imagine that my love remains unmatched …
… Until it comes to the likes of writer-director Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction (1994), Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood (2019), and more), the then wunderkind behind the 1993 criminal thriller True Romance.*
Because — arguably — Quentin Tarantino’s films could never have existed without the movies that Quentin Tarantino loved before he was Quentin Tarantino.
The likable villains in Reservoir Dogs (1992) would not have met in a Mexican standoff without the disjointed narrative of Kubrick’s The Killing (1956), the color-coded personalities of Sargent’s The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974), or the undercover betrayal of Lam’s City on Fire (1987). And the Bride in Kill Bill (2004) wouldn’t have earned her revenge without the influence of Fujita’s Lady Snowblood (1973), martial artist Bruce Lee’s posthumous action film Game of Death (1978), and the violent Lone Wolf & Cub story of Shogun Assassin (1980).
Tarantino isn’t necessarily the thief that exploits what has come before him in motion pictures but the elevator that takes other films, directors, and characters to the top floor of a cinematic heist, a widescreen shoot-out — you name it — that defies imagination …
… And all against a killer soundtrack.
And without director Tony Scott (Top Gun (1986), Beverly Hills Cop II (1987), and more), the true love of True Romance would never have come true.
Screen-written by Tarantino, the film is the story of Clarence Worley (Christian Slater), an Elvis-obsessed comic book shop employee, who falls for Alabama (Patricia Arquette), a Floridian call girl — a call girl, not a whore (because there’s a difference, you know!) – after one night of kung fu movies, late-night diner pie, and blue-hued sex. But when Clarence tries to retrieve Alabama’s possessions from her former pimp (Gary Oldman), he accidentally hoists a suitcase of uncut cocaine from the scene. Cut to the operatic moment in which Clarence’s well-meaning father (Dennis Hopper) is visited by the associate (Christopher Walken) of the mobster with the most skin in the game, and the contemporary Bonnie & Clyde are off to California. Once there, they hope — with the help of an aspiring actor friend Dick Richie (Michael Rapaport) to sell the dope to a Hollywood bigwig (Saul Rubinek) by way of his hapless assistant Elliot Blitzer (Bronson Pinchot) before two ambitiously corrupt detectives (Tom Sizemore & Chris Penn) can put the duo behind bars.
Did we forget to mention that Elvis Presley (played by Val Kilmer) serves as Clarence’s imaginary friend? His spiritual guide? A voice in his head?
There’s a lot going on in a movie like this but nothing more important than the pop culture that wallpapers this cinematic love letter to cinema: those films, movie stars, and icons that tell the audience as much about true romance as the motion picture True Romance — a Shakespearean-like tale of two star-cross’d lovers caught in the middle of many families of violence — tells us about true romance.
And try as the Pickwick Drive-In might like in reviewing every cultural reference peppered throughout the film, a motion picture like this one would make it easier to count broken hearts in the city of Los Angeles.
So, we carved out our 10 favorites, just enough to match the mileage between Detroit Rock City and Tinseltown.
#1
Jailhouse Rock (1957)
TIMESTAMP … 55 seconds
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THE STORY
When a construction worker (Elvis Presley) accidentally kills a man while defending a young woman’s honor, he pays for his crime in a state penitentiary. While there, his talent for music is discovered by a fellow inmate, and — once released from prison — goes on to discover great success.
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THE TRUE STORY
The King of Rock & Roll remains the lynchpin of True Romance, altogether introducing the audience to Clarence as the film begins. He appears later as Clarence’s so-called spiritual muse in a bathroom stall and later still as the subject of a conversation about rabid fans of pop culture at a mouth-watering burger stand.
“In Jailhouse Rock, he’s everything rockabilly is about,” Clarence tells the inebriated woman dressed in furs in a dimly-lit, neon-bruised downtown bar, in the movie’s first moments. “Nah – he is rockabilly: mean, surly, nasty, rude. In that movie, he couldn’t give a fuck about nothin’ – except rockin’ & rollin’, livin’ fast, dyin’ young, and leavin’ a good lookin’ corpse, you know? I’d watch that hillbilly, and I’d want to be him so bad.”
And as Clarence imagines Presley in his mind’s eye, what Clarence really imagines is how he would like to see himself in Detroit, MI, as a nihilist incapable of seeing the world beyond his own working class mediocrity.
But even in Presley’s apparent apathy, he serves as Clarence’s moral compass as well – first encouraging him to stand up to Drexl and later supporting him at the drug deal hosted at the Beverly Ambassador — so while Clarence’s love for the King is eternal, his would-be fatalism would be short-lived. Clarence isn’t capable of feeling nothing, after all. In meeting Alabama, he would meet someone who would give Clarence something to believe in.
And beyond that, other parallels between Jailhouse Rock and True Romance aren’t insignificant. Clarence elects to defend Alabama’s honor by confronting Drexl, getting himself into hot water as a result as well, in a similar fashion to Presley’s character. And just as the King assures Clarence that he is cool, so too does Alabama, before the bloody events of this adventure conclude.
“You’re so cool. You’re so cool,” Alabama coos. “You’re so cool.” And her admission comes at a moment when all hope would appear to be lost — for her, for Clarence, for Dick Ritchie, for Elliott Blitzer, for a bunch of thugs financed by Blue Lou Boyle, and more. Luckily, there remains some hope at the end of Alabama & Clarence’s rainbow that a fortune — just like Presley’s newfound fame in Jailhouse — also awaits.
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Jailhouse Rock is streaming on Tubi.
#2
The Street Fighter (1974)
TIMESTAMP … 5 minutes 33 seconds
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THE STORY
A martial arts & assassin-for-hire (Sonny Chiba) proves that he has a heart of gold when he hears of a plot to kidnap the daughter of a dead billionaire and elects to protect her at all costs.
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THE TRUE STORY
Alabama & Clarence’s first date takes place in the most appropriate location for True Romance: a movie theater. Quietly seated in a rather empty auditorium, the two watch a seemingly unstoppable killing machine cut a swath through his opponents.
“Is he supposed to be a good guy?” Alabama asks, having dusted off Clarence of popcorn that she strategically dumped into his lap and while gifting him a box of Goobers as a peace offering for doing so, just so that she could seduce him as his working girl birthday gift for the night, compliments of Clarence’s friend & boss.
“He ain’t so much a good guy,” Clarence says, lost now in the action of The Street Fighter on the big screen — and Sonny Chiba’s performance — but also lost in the warmth of Alabama sitting at his side, “as he’s just a bad motherfucker.”
Clarence’s characterization of the pop culture that he adores says so much about him. This isn’t to suggest that Clarence sees himself as walking a tightrope-thin line betwixt good & evil; on the contrary, Clarence demonstrates throughout the film through his devotion to Alabama that he is a good guy …
… But he’s one that will momentarily cross that line if need be, just as he does later in the film – in the elevator of the Beverly Ambassador, his loaded pistol pressed into Elliot’s cheek. “If I’m wrong, I’ll fuckin’ apologize, right?” Clarence promises. “Something’s amiss – I can feel it.” And the audience can feel it too.
“If anything out of the ordinary goes down,” Clarence continues, “I swear to God: you are gonna be the first one shot.”
Yet despite their transgressions as good people – and Alabama & Clarence are good people despite being good people that the audience adores, doing bad things – these are two lovers for whom you would like to see dreams come true.
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The Street Fighter is streaming on Fandango at Home.
#3
Amazing Spider-Man #1 (March, 1963)
TIMESTAMP … 11 minutes 15 seconds
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THE STORY
Following the events of his origin story in Amazing Fantasy #15, Spider-Man’s young alter ego Peter Parker still struggles with the death of his uncle Ben, as well as the financial position he has put his Aunt May in, as a result of her husband’s death – and of which Peter is complicit. Aware of no other solution, Peter returns to a small-time world of show business, exploiting his newfound powers for financial gain in the first chapter of a two-part inaugural magazine.
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THE TRUE STORY
While little is made of this seminal comic book in the film – when Clarence shows Alabama the comic book store in which he works – the issue at hand here is one of two kinds of love.
First, Clarence describes an unidentified comic book about a hero who swims into the depths of the sea to retrieve a ring – symbolic of his love for a woman – when it is tossed overboard by a villain. The story is one of unassailed loyalty, the likes of which Clarence demonstrates over the course of the movie.
Second – yet just as important – at the heart of Peter Parker’s origin story as Spider-Man, family remains most important. Long after Peter gained the powers that would make him Spider-Man, his care for Aunt May would remain constant.
But early in his heroic history, Peter Parker was told by Uncle Ben that “with great power comes great responsibility.”
It’s a responsibility that Clarence adopts as he accepts his role as Alabama’s lover.
Here, Uncle Ben’s aphorism is just as important as when Clarence’s father sternly reminds Clarence of his duties to his new wife, just before he sets out for California.
“Well, now, son, I want you to know that I hope everything works out with you and Alabama, huh? I like her. And I think you make a real cute couple,” Clarence is told. “Yeah, well … you stay out of trouble. Remember: you got a wife to think about now. Quit fuckin’ around.”
According to the audience, these are the first words of wisdom that Clarence has heard from his father in three years.
And — unfortunately – they are the last words of wisdom that Clarence will hear from his father ever again.
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Comic books — including but not limited to those starring Spider-Man — can be purchased at your local comic shop. Support local comic shops.
#4
A Better Tomorrow II (1987)
TIMESTAMP … 20 minutes 26 seconds
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THE STORY
Directed by John Woo – in the second film in his Hong Kong action movie trilogy – a policeman (Leslie Cheung) and a reformed gang member (Ti Lung) meet the twin brother (Chow Yun-Fat) of their dead friend, who is now working for a New York City mob boss. Exceedingly violent, the film portrays a world of crime in which betrayal is a necessity for survival.
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THE TRUE STORY
Now married to one another & tattooed as a symbol of their love for one another, Alabama & Clarence should be riding off into the sunset as part of their lifelong honeymoon. But distracted by Alabama’s call girl life, Clarence leaves Alabama at his apartment – watching Woo’s violent kung fu film – and visits her former place of employment in order to confront her former pimp Drexl and take from him any of Alabama’s worldly possessions – and better yet: life – that he still holds in his tight grip …
… So inspired by a visit from the aforementioned King of Rock & Roll, who assures Clarence that getting away with murder is easier than murder itself if Clarence hopes to be “unhaunted” by the world Drexl represents. So early in their wedded happiness, Alabama fears that Clarence is gambling with his life – and Clarence assures her that he will survive a showdown with her former boss.
“I need to do this,” Clarence tells Alabama before he leaves her, before he sets out to become this thing in her life — that he has only glimpsed in the pages of comic books — the superhero whom he never imagined he could become, to wrest her life of the call girl from the hands of someone like Drexl, a nemesis Clarence never imagined he would face. “I want you to know that you can count on me.”
And with that, convinced that he is the modern day samurai protecting his cub – with justice on his side and a snub-nosed pistol secreted on his person – Clarence meets Drexl on the heels of a double-cross that has already gone down. Having gunned down street-level associates of gangster Blue Lou Boyle, Drexl & his men took with them as a prize a suitcase of uncut cocaine.
But there would be no negotiation for Alabama’s employment when Clarence was finished — demonstrated by the empty envelope that Clarence offers Drexl as buyout money — and another double-cross transpires when Clarence is driven to kill Drexl. Now, armed with a loaded revolver and possessed with a suitcase of drugs for sale, the newlyweds are prepared to outrace the streets from which they’d come.
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A Better Tomorrow II is streaming on Tubi.
#5
William Shatner
TIMESTAMP … 59 minutes
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THE STORY
After a long career in television – which included a five-season stint starring as Captain James T. Kirk on Star Trek – Shatner starred in a number of films based upon the series, as well as five seasons of T.J. Hooker (1982 – 1985), a procedural crime drama about a former detective who demotes himself to the role of police sergeant, feeling that he can make a greater impact in criminal justice at the street level.
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THE TRUE STORY
Upon arriving in Los Angeles, Alabama & Clarence enlist the help of Clarence’s friend Dick Ritchie, an aspiring actor who may be able to lead them to someone within the Hollywood community who would be interested in buying $500K worth of cocaine at an incredible discount. At Alabama & Clarence’s asking price, it would be a dream come true for someone rubbing elbows with Hollywood’s biggest stars & studio execs.
But for Alabama & Clarence, that discounted price would be a dream come true for them as well. So when Dick auditions for a role in ABC-TV’s TJ Hooker — and gets the part — his dream of being a working actor appears so very possible.
“Meeting Captain Kirk,” Clarence says to Dick, celebrating his friend’s accomplishment as Alabama photographs Dick on her disposable camera from the car’s backseat, “that would be amazing.” The subtext here suggests that, like Captain Kirk, Dick is possessed with the same tools — doggedness, ingenuity, and talent — to go where no one has gone before.
Despite all the primary school teachings that tell us all as children that greatness awaits everyone in America, that all dreams come true — even though reality tells us something markedly different — working class kids like Alabama & Clarence and even the mildly talented Dick Ritchie are evidence that the fulfillment of a dream is within anyone’s reach …
… But only if they can survive the deadly shoot-out at the Beverly Ambassador that awaits them all in the film’s final act.
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All five seasons of the original Star Trek series are streaming on Paramount+.
#6
Freejack (1992)
TIMESTAMP … 1 hour 3 seconds
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THE STORY
In the 21st Century, technology exists that allows the super wealthy to enlist criminals to travel back in time; abduct young, able-bodied victims; and return them to the future, and — once there — the wealthy can have their consciousnesses transplanted into the bodies of these abductees. When a 20th Century race driver (Emilio Estevez) is brought to the future, he discovers a dangerous, hopeless world awaits humanity.
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THE TRUE STORY
Hard-pressed to determine a reasonable connective thread that would justify the reference of Freejack within the narrative of True Romance, the Pickwick Drive-In has settled upon the notion that – in both films – the bygone days of youthfulness will always defeat the deceptive plutocracy & the corrupt authority that both coldly manipulates progressive hopefulness and controls the machinations of the contemporary world.
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Never mind.
The Pickwick Drive-In can determine no reasonable explanation for the reference to Freejack in True Romance except that both films make use of roller coasters.
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Freejack is streaming on Tubi.
#7
Bullitt (1968)
TIMESTAMP … 1 hour 13 minutes
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THE STORY
As a police lieutenant (Steve McQueen) tries to protect an informant who could potentially take down a mob boss, he must track two hitmen through a serpentine maze of double-crosses & treachery. The film includes one of the most famous cinematic car chases of all time.
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THE TRUE STORY
“We now return to Bullitt, already in progress,” Clarence says to nobody in particular as he puts the pedal to the metal and flies furiously in reverse from the parking lot of the Safari Inn, on a short-order mission to return with burgers for Alabama.
The moment doesn’t speak much to the film’s overarching themes or illuminate the film as a whole – but the motion picture’s use of Clarence’s automobile is significant due to its frequency. And while Bullitt cannot be matched when it comes to a cinematic chase scene, True Romance pays homage to the 1968 film in four pivotal ways:
1.
First, that impressive purple Cadillac is the very vehicle that transports Alabama & Clarence from the seedy streets of Detroit to the idyllic world of hope that is Los Angeles. With that, the motion picture is a road movie of sorts, because – for first-time viewers – the City of Angels may not be the end of the road for our heroes;
2.
Then, with the blatant Bullitt reference, Clarence’s Cadillac becomes a character on its own in the film. From a storytelling standpoint, this animated errand leaves Alabama helpless to the life-threatening beating that she receives at the hands of the darkly charming mobster Virgil (James Gandolfini);
3.
But – in short order – Clarence’s Cadillac also serves as Alabama’s savior, rescuing her from the violence & trauma that she’s endured at the Safari. And where does Clarence & his Cadillac take her? To a hideaway that sits in the shadow of an airport, which could have easily served as an escape plan for the couple at this stage in the story — were they to abandon this dangerous endeavor. But Alabama & Clarence are too invested at this stage. So instead, the Cadillac will deliver the couple to the Beverly Ambassador, where an uncertain fate awaits them both;
4.
And finally – before the proverbial dust & certainly the literal blood mist settles – Clarence’s Cadillac is helmed by Alabama herself, driving a wounded Clarence towards a literal & metaphorical horizon, where the two will finally live happily ever after.
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Yet none of these moments starring Clarence’s Cadillac do what the inanimate – even stationary – Cadillac truly does on its own in True Romance.
Few would argue that the gorgeous appearance of the Cadillac — not just in the context of the film itself but as a fixture in Clarence’s life — seems dramatic, especially upon a closer look.
But that is, in fact, the point.
That a comic book store clerk could own an automobile of this nature seems ridiculously absurd if one pauses long enough to consider it, but its existence contributes so well to the exuberant atmosphere of the film’s first act.
Alabama & Clarence’s one-night courtship of shared ideals & interests. Their lightning fast marriage. The tattoos that the two share like the wedding rings they may have exchanged – once upon a time – were they to possess the means to afford them. And that gorgeous Cadillac that whisks them away from the lonely lives they once knew. These are all ingredients of the same fairy tale-like story that is captured so perfectly with two words:
True romance.
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Bullitt is available to rent or own on Fandango at Home.
#8
Taxi Driver (1976)
TIMESTAMP … 1 hour 31 minutes
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THE STORY
A Vietnam veteran (Robert DeNiro) – suffering from insomnia & working as a taxi cab driver — copes with his isolation by visiting adult movie theaters, growing more & more agitated by the urban decay that he sees around him.
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THE TRUE STORY
In a brief moment leading up to the showdown at the Beverly Ambassador, Blue Lou Boyle’s men smoke cigarettes, load their handguns, smoke more cigarettes, load their shotguns some more, and smoke even more cigarettes. And while the majority of the henchmen steel themselves up in silence, perhaps chatting about the latest in sports news, one young gangster postures in front of a body-length mirror, pulling his greased hair back and staring back at himself behind the comfort of his sunglasses.
“Are you looking at me?” the thug asks his own reflection, and everyone in the room erupts in laughter over his reference to the bloodshed that those lines predict in Scorsese’s 1976 film Taxi Driver, words that become the prologue to the death of Travis Bickle.
Scorsese’s film is memorable for a number of reasons, but — whether memorialized as a meme or a harbinger of the tragedy that lies in wait for Travis Bickle — this reflective, jarring moment in Taxi Driver remains a chilling one.
And while Bickle has nothing in common with Clarence (outside Bickle’s efforts to escape his solitude in a movie theater while Clarence spends every one of his lonely birthdays in one), the Scorsese reference is foreboding to those who catch it — especially as our heroes walk into a spider’s web of potential death.
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Taxi Driver is available to rent or own on Fandango at Home.
#9
Rapid Fire References
TIMESTAMP … 1 hour 41 minutes
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Mad Max (1979)
In a not-too-distant dystopian future, an officer (Mel Gibson) wages a personal war against the violent biker gang that took the lives of his wife and son. The motion picture is a riotous road movie — dependent upon the financial need of people, as well as the need for retribution — much like Alabama & Clarence’s more heartwarming — sometimes more brutal — cross country venture.
Mad Max is streaming on Peacock.
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The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (1966)
In the epic spaghetti western directed by Sergio Leone (and starring Clint Eastwood), three men – justifiably distrustful of one another – develop an uneasy alliance when they set out to discover a buried fortune in gold. A treacherous standoff, much like the climactic scene at the Beverly Ambassador, promises to leave no life unchanged.
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly is streaming on Tubi.
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Rio Bravo (1959)
Directed by Howard Hawks and starring John Wayne, this character-driven western – which relies more on conversation, like True Romance, than unadulterated action – culminates in the ostensible last stand of a local sheriff protecting one of his prisoners. The film, like Scott’s, explores the worth that otherwise “worthless” people – like Alabama & Clarence, working class kids who never imagined they would amount to much – can possess.
Rio Bravo is available to rent or own on Fandango at Home.
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The Deer Hunter (1978)
Starring a cast that includes Robert DeNiro, Christopher Walken, and Meryl Streep, this film features blissful nuptials that will be unceremoniously interrupted forever by the long-lasting atrocities of the Vietnam conflict. Similarly, Alabama & Clarence’s own fairy tale-like courtship is tested by the violent world in which they find themselves.
The Deer Hunter is available to rent or own on Fandango at Home.
#10
Alabama & Clarence Go To Cancun
TIMESTAMP … 1 hour 28 minutes
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Following the motion picture’s most violent moments – when Alabama is beaten almost to death by Virgil – our lovers retreat to an airport’s runways where the only thing that drowns out the sound of airplanes coming & going is the sound of their voices, imagining aloud that they could escape the events of that day.
And – as they do – they reference a film that could have made especially for them, if they survive the drug deal planned for the Beverly Ambassador, one in which they escape to the beaches of some far-off place: Clarence & Alabama Go To Cancun.
The title has a certain ring to it, Alabama dreams, but Clarence corrects her on that particular title.
“In my movie, darling, you get top billing,” he says. “It’s all going to work out for us. We deserve it.” And it sounds so far-fetched — even dreamlike — like Presley’s incarcerated killer in Jailhouse Rock, with a heart of gold, who will go on to be a gold-plated star.
But is it any more far-fetched than two young lovers escaping a Mexican standoff in a luxury hotel in Los Angeles just so that they could drench themselves in the sun & the surf – and name their baby boy Elvis?
With its misogyny, profanity, racism, and violence, True Romance probably should have concluded much more tragically than the film’s title suggests — certainly from a Shakespearean standpoint — and the Bard knew best what constitutes true romance.
“That’s the way it goes,” Clarence tells Alabama when she asks him why their lives were in such a state of upheaval, devoid of hope, in such a stage of shit, though Clarence could just as easily be speaking of kung fu flicks, spaghetti westerns, Vietnam movies, love stories — our lives, even — and more.
“But don’t forget,” Clarence would then add with a wry smile, an attempt to warm Alabama against a cold Motor City winter, “it goes the other way too.”
I don’t believe in true love, but I believe this: that’s how it goes with some films, even in our lives.
“Usually, that’s the way it goes,” Alabama promises the audience about the dark world that they will enter, in the first minutes of True Romance. “But – every once in a while – it goes the other way too.”
And that’s what’s so romantic about it — that it truly can.
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True Romance is streaming on Tubi.
Late-Night at the Pickwick Drive-In 
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