About The Book

The first screenplay of one of America’s brightest young filmmakers, True Romance is a twisted road movie in which Alabama, a hooker, and Clarence, a young comic-book store clerk, fall in love, get married, and hit the road in a purple Cadillac. They are going to L.A. to start a new life—with a suitcase full of cocaine accidentally stolen from Alabama’s defunct ex-pimp. Guided by the spirit of Elvis, Clarence attempts to sell the coke to a top Hollywood director, putting himself and Alabama in the middle of a standoff between the narcs and the Sicilian gangsters who rightfully own the cocaine.

Especially noteworthy for Tarantino’s age—he wrote it while still a videostore clerk—True Romance contains the “Sicilian scene” acted by Dennis Hopper and Christopher Walken, which many fans and critics consider one of his finest accomplishments. The published screenplay also contains the original ending and Tarantino’s “answers first, questions later” structure, both of which were altered by director Tony Scott.

Praise

“A vibrant, grisly, gleefully amoral road movie [that] sticks to its own stylistic guns . . . wickedly tongue-in-cheek.” —Janet Maslin, The New York Times

“A pop-crazy, instant B classic with A clout.” —Interview

“Tarantino creates a world of tough guys, bravado, lurid melodrama, easy women, betrayal, guns and drugs. . . . The energy and style of the movie are exhilarating.” —Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times