WORDS Carol Davey
Great movies are a collection of variables: Acting, styling, directing, cinematography, and script all play vital parts in making a story come to life on screen.
While True Romance may not be the be the greatest film of all time—it does contain the best 4 minutes and 29 seconds of action ever shot by Tony Scott (Top Gun, Days of Thunder, The Fan). Two acting greats, Christopher Walken and Dennis Hopper shine while engaging in a battle of wits housed in a cramped trailer. No explosions, no 50 million dollar spent; just two Hollywood giants and four minutes of dialogue create a scene that outlasts the movie. Ask anyone if they have seen True Romance and it might take a moment for them to remember… but ask if they recall the scene in that one movie about the Sicilians and the Moors and undoubtedly they can recite it almost word for word.
Hopper plays ex-cop Clifford Worley, father of Christian Slater who books out of town after inadvertently stealing a large suitcase of mob money. He is visited by Christopher Walken, a mob kingpin and faced with the time honored dilemma of selling out your family or saving your life. Quentin Tarantino, who penned the story and script, began his career as a master of conveying human emotion through monologues. Just as Jules delivers the infamous “Vengeance for my name is the Lord” speech in Pulp Fiction, so to does Hopper give us a history lesson in the only way he could.
Walken begins his interrogation by saying Sicilians are great liars and as such he would know when he is being lied to. Knowing his death is imminent Hopper does something truly brilliant, shifting the focus from his son completely and telling Walken a story that he knows will incense the mobster so much he will surely die.
The genius of this scene lies completely in the acting chops of Hopper and Walken, and in Tarantino’s script. Worley knows his death is imminent as soon as they came through his door- yet he does not beg nor plea; instead he delivers a testament to courage and the art of being a wise ass. Soft music plays in the background as a beaten bloody Hopper tells the proud Sicilian Walken he is the descendent of the Moors, straight faced and with no fear. The background is dark and filled with smoke as the camera cuts to a close up of Hopper’s face as he utters his final insult to the laughing group of mobsters; “You’re part eggplant”. “I love this guy” Walken says through his laughter. As he gets up he turns his back on Hopper, the audience takes a collective breath because we all know what is coming. Walken empties a clip into his head while telling his lackeys “I haven’t killed anybody since 1984” as calmly as you might order a pastrami on rye.
The scene is brilliant in its simplicity and shows classic Tarantino at his best.
