Rating: ****
Director: Tony Scott
Writer: Quentin Tarantino
Cast: Christian Slater, Patricia Arquette, Dennis Hopper, Val Kilmer,
Gary Oldman, Brad Pitt, Christopher Walken, Chris Penn, Samuel L. Jackson
A superbly made crime drama about a Joe-average loser named Clarence (Christian Slater) who falls for the proverbial golden hearted whore in the form of Florida white trash Patricia Arquette. He ends up killing her pimp and accidentally picks up a suitcase of cocaine instead of his girlfriend's belongings, so the rest of the film revolves around them running from the mob, evading the law, and desperately trying to offload the drugs. Great characters, wonderful performances by the entire cast, and brilliant direction from Tony Scott. More than anything, the film is a psychological character study, but where it really pays off is in the slam-bang ultra-violent Hong Kong style shootout at the end. My main complaint about the film is that, just like everything else that Tarantino writes, it's way too dialog driven and pop culture referential. That and the cornball contrived Hollywood ending that seemed to be tacked on as an afterthought. Definitely worth checking out.