The love interest was laughable, the ending corny. But I think a lot of your points are answered by Clarence being a loveable imbecile with his head in the clouds. Personally it was a film that had a certain charm that elevated it above its shortcoming and its disinterest in realism.

@Fergoose said:

The love interest was laughable, the ending corny. But I think a lot of your points are answered by Clarence being a loveable imbecile with his head in the clouds.

An imbecile who got his father killed, as well as dragging down a bunch of people (Lee, Elliot) and his wife and himself almost killed. Not very loveable to me.

Personally it was a film that had a certain charm that elevated it above its shortcoming and its disinterest in realism.

Like I said, I'm sure I'm going to be in the minority, I get that people love this movie. All the power to them.

I love this movie and have watched it maybe 15 times or so. I may very well come to hate it as time goes on however as I recently tried re-watching Inglorious Basterds and couldn't get past the first 10 minutes or so. I'm not a huge fan of Tarantino.

@MongoLloyd said:

I love this movie and have watched it maybe 15 times or so. I may very well come to hate it as time goes on however as I recently tried re-watching Inglorious Basterds and couldn't get past the first 10 minutes or so. I'm not a huge fan of Tarantino.

I hear you.

@DRDMovieMusings said:

I wanted to like this movie...but there are too many conveniences that are hard, for me, to dismiss.

• Clarence left his driver licence at the scene where he killed Drexl. I assume Vincenzo got it before the cops could, else Clarence would be wanted by the cops at least for questioning.
• But, Clarence then drives from Detroit to LA, and never once needs or notices he does not have a DL on him? Never gets stopped by cops?
• This idea of Clarence and Alabama "falling in love" after one night is fairy tale to begin with.
• Clarence being stupid enough to take the coke as if that amount of product would not be missed by powerful people dealing in that kind of quantity
• all the shooting at the hotel when Alabama kills Virgil, all those witnesses see Clarence and Alabama leave, but they are able to get away before the cops show up?
• he's driving a convertible pink Cadillac, not the kind of car you drive when you want to blend in and disappear. When the cops arrive at the hotel where Virgil is dead, not one witness mentioned seeing two people, all bloodied, driving away in a convertible pink Cadillac? He's able to keep driving that car around town freely?
• the whole ending stand-off where everyone shoots each other.

Yes, most commenters lavish high praise and glowing accolades on this movie. And, anyone who knows me knows I'm a big Tarantino fan, so it's not like I'm hating on this movie because I don't get Tarantino. But, for all the stars in this movie (and there is a boatload of big names up and down this cast list), I expected a better story than this.

I've never really liked True Romance, and I agree that the romantic aspect of it is somewhat weak. Clarence's boss arranges for a hooker to show him the world for a night, and he spends the rest of his life with her? OK. QT got away with a very impromptu character transformation in Pulp Fiction, but this film just feels paper thin.

@CelluloidFan said:

@DRDMovieMusings said:

I wanted to like this movie...but there are too many conveniences that are hard, for me, to dismiss.

• Clarence left his driver licence at the scene where he killed Drexl. I assume Vincenzo got it before the cops could, else Clarence would be wanted by the cops at least for questioning.
• But, Clarence then drives from Detroit to LA, and never once needs or notices he does not have a DL on him? Never gets stopped by cops?
• This idea of Clarence and Alabama "falling in love" after one night is fairy tale to begin with.
• Clarence being stupid enough to take the coke as if that amount of product would not be missed by powerful people dealing in that kind of quantity
• all the shooting at the hotel when Alabama kills Virgil, all those witnesses see Clarence and Alabama leave, but they are able to get away before the cops show up?
• he's driving a convertible pink Cadillac, not the kind of car you drive when you want to blend in and disappear. When the cops arrive at the hotel where Virgil is dead, not one witness mentioned seeing two people, all bloodied, driving away in a convertible pink Cadillac? He's able to keep driving that car around town freely?
• the whole ending stand-off where everyone shoots each other.

Yes, most commenters lavish high praise and glowing accolades on this movie. And, anyone who knows me knows I'm a big Tarantino fan, so it's not like I'm hating on this movie because I don't get Tarantino. But, for all the stars in this movie (and there is a boatload of big names up and down this cast list), I expected a better story than this.

I've never really liked True Romance, and I agree that the romantic aspect of it is somewhat weak.

Yep.

Clarence's boss arranges for a hooker to show him the world for a night, and he spends the rest of his life with her? OK.

Right?!

QT got away with a very impromptu character transformation in Pulp Fiction,

If you're referring to Jules, I think there's a lot going on there, which I break down here http://drdmoviemusings.blogspot.com/2010/05/trying-hard-to-be-shepherd-pulp-fiction.html

but this film just feels paper thin.

Yep. I'll start a new discussion on the question of a sequel.

@DRDMovieMusings said:

@CelluloidFan said:

@DRDMovieMusings said:

I wanted to like this movie...but there are too many conveniences that are hard, for me, to dismiss.

• Clarence left his driver licence at the scene where he killed Drexl. I assume Vincenzo got it before the cops could, else Clarence would be wanted by the cops at least for questioning.
• But, Clarence then drives from Detroit to LA, and never once needs or notices he does not have a DL on him? Never gets stopped by cops?
• This idea of Clarence and Alabama "falling in love" after one night is fairy tale to begin with.
• Clarence being stupid enough to take the coke as if that amount of product would not be missed by powerful people dealing in that kind of quantity
• all the shooting at the hotel when Alabama kills Virgil, all those witnesses see Clarence and Alabama leave, but they are able to get away before the cops show up?
• he's driving a convertible pink Cadillac, not the kind of car you drive when you want to blend in and disappear. When the cops arrive at the hotel where Virgil is dead, not one witness mentioned seeing two people, all bloodied, driving away in a convertible pink Cadillac? He's able to keep driving that car around town freely?
• the whole ending stand-off where everyone shoots each other.

Yes, most commenters lavish high praise and glowing accolades on this movie. And, anyone who knows me knows I'm a big Tarantino fan, so it's not like I'm hating on this movie because I don't get Tarantino. But, for all the stars in this movie (and there is a boatload of big names up and down this cast list), I expected a better story than this.

I've never really liked True Romance, and I agree that the romantic aspect of it is somewhat weak.

Yep.

Clarence's boss arranges for a hooker to show him the world for a night, and he spends the rest of his life with her? OK.

Right?!

QT got away with a very impromptu character transformation in Pulp Fiction,

If you're referring to Jules, I think there's a lot going on there, which I break down here http://drdmoviemusings.blogspot.com/2010/05/trying-hard-to-be-shepherd-pulp-fiction.html

but this film just feels paper thin.

Yep. I'll start a new discussion on the question of a sequel.

I read some of your writing on Pulp, and it was interesting. I won’t front; Tarantino is an inspiring writer, sometimes. I’ve been inspired by Jules’ change in the film that was carried out with QT’s own original approach. Thanks for the read.

@CelluloidFan said:

@DRDMovieMusings said:

@CelluloidFan said:

@DRDMovieMusings said:

I wanted to like this movie...but there are too many conveniences that are hard, for me, to dismiss.

• Clarence left his driver licence at the scene where he killed Drexl. I assume Vincenzo got it before the cops could, else Clarence would be wanted by the cops at least for questioning.
• But, Clarence then drives from Detroit to LA, and never once needs or notices he does not have a DL on him? Never gets stopped by cops?
• This idea of Clarence and Alabama "falling in love" after one night is fairy tale to begin with.
• Clarence being stupid enough to take the coke as if that amount of product would not be missed by powerful people dealing in that kind of quantity
• all the shooting at the hotel when Alabama kills Virgil, all those witnesses see Clarence and Alabama leave, but they are able to get away before the cops show up?
• he's driving a convertible pink Cadillac, not the kind of car you drive when you want to blend in and disappear. When the cops arrive at the hotel where Virgil is dead, not one witness mentioned seeing two people, all bloodied, driving away in a convertible pink Cadillac? He's able to keep driving that car around town freely?
• the whole ending stand-off where everyone shoots each other.

Yes, most commenters lavish high praise and glowing accolades on this movie. And, anyone who knows me knows I'm a big Tarantino fan, so it's not like I'm hating on this movie because I don't get Tarantino. But, for all the stars in this movie (and there is a boatload of big names up and down this cast list), I expected a better story than this.

I've never really liked True Romance, and I agree that the romantic aspect of it is somewhat weak.

Yep.

Clarence's boss arranges for a hooker to show him the world for a night, and he spends the rest of his life with her? OK.

Right?!

QT got away with a very impromptu character transformation in Pulp Fiction,

If you're referring to Jules, I think there's a lot going on there, which I break down here http://drdmoviemusings.blogspot.com/2010/05/trying-hard-to-be-shepherd-pulp-fiction.html

but this film just feels paper thin.

Yep. I'll start a new discussion on the question of a sequel.

I read some of your writing on Pulp, and it was interesting. I won’t front; Tarantino is an inspiring writer, sometimes. I’ve been inspired by Jules’ change in the film that was carried out with QT’s own original approach. Thanks for the read.

Thanks for reading! And for the conversation, of course.