Plot
Comic book store clerk and film buff Clarence Worley (Slater) watches a Sonny Chiba triple feature at a Detroit movie theater for his birthday. There he meets Alabama Whitman (Arquette), seemingly by chance. They go to a diner for pie and flirt before heading to the comic book store where Clarence works. Afterwords, the two return to Clarence's apartment and have sex. Later, Clarence wakes to discover Alabama distraught, confessing that she is a call girl hired by Clarence's boss as a birthday present. But, she has fallen in love with Clarence and he with her.
The next day, they marry. As they get matching tattoos, Alabama reveals that, for her job, she had a pimp, Drexl Spivey (Oldman), making Clarence noticeably uneasy. An apparition of his idol, Elvis Presley (Kilmer), tells him that killing Drexl, who is also a drug dealer, will assuage him of his anger towards the pimp for creating a hostile environment his wife had to go through and make the world a better place. Elvis mentions that the death of someone like Drexl would be celebrated by the police who wouldn't be that interested in who killed him. Clarence visits Drexl's brothel and tells him that he has married Alabama and she has no additional business with him. Drexl and Clarence fight, and Clarence draws a gun and kills Drexl and his henchman, Marty. He grabs a bag that he assumes belongs to Alabama. When he tells Alabama he killed Drexl, she sobs and tells him that she finds his actions "romantic."
Opening the suitcase, the two find it is full of cocaine, which was stolen by Drexl. Clarence and Alabama decide to leave for California immediately to sell of the contents of the suitcase. First, they pay a visit to Clarence's estranged father, security guard, and ex-cop Clifford Worley (Hopper). Clarence wants to find out if he is in the clear regarding Drexl's murder. Clifford tells him that the police assume it to be a drug-related killing caused by a falling out between Drexl and his mob boss, Blue Lou Boyle.
In Los Angeles, the young couple plan to meet Clarence's old friend, Dick Ritchie (Rapaport), an aspiring actor. Back in Detroit, Clifford is confronted in his home by gangster Vincenzo Coccotti (Walken), who wants the drugs taken from Drexl, his underling. Clifford refuses to reveal where his son has gone. Accepting that he is going to die anyway, he insults Coccotti, who shoots Clifford and then finds a note on the fridge giving Clarence's address in L.A.
Clarence plans to use Ritchie's Hollywood contacts with an actor named Elliot (Pinchot) to sell the drugs to a film producer, Lee Donowitz (Rubinek). Elliot, who has some of the cocaine, is pulled over for speeding and is arrested for drug possession. Believing Clarence's story of getting the drugs from a dirty cop, he informs on Donowitz.
One of Coccotti's henchmen, Virgil (Gandolfini), tracks down the address to Dick's apartment where Dick's stoner roommate, Floyd (Pitt), reveals to him where Clarence and Alabama are staying in the city. While Clarence is out buying lunch, Alabama is found alone in their motel room and interrogated by Virgil. But, she fights back and manages to kill him. Clarence, returning to the Inn, takes Alabama and they both leave the scene. Recovering from her wounds, Alabama talks with Clarence about moving to Cancún with the money from the drug deal and starting a new life. Knowing that Elliot's cocaine was uncut, and with Elliot "confessing" in order to avoid prison, detectives Nicholson and Dimes (Sizemore and Penn) conclude that a sizable drug deal is about to go down. Promising him that he can avoid prison in return for cooperation, the two detectives have Elliot wear a wire. Coccotti's men learn where the deal is going down from Floyd, and they all converge on Donowitz's suite at the Ambassador Hotel.
Clarence makes a good impression on Donowitz, using his knowledge of films and his sangfroid to solidify his trust. As Clarence uses the bathroom while talking again to Elvis, the group is ambushed by both the cops and gangsters who break in at almost the same time. Donowitz realizes that Elliot is an informant and throws a hot pot of coffee on him, Nicholson shoots Donowitz, and a shootout begins. Dick abandons the drugs and flees the hotel and Clarence is shot as he exits the bathroom. Afterward, Dimes finds one of the bodyguards mortally wounded, and kills him for shooting Nicholson. Alabama then shoots Dimes as revenge for shooting Clarence.
As Alabama cries over Clarence, it is revealed that the gunshot had only grazed his face and narrowly missed his eye. He and Alabama escape with Donowitz's money as more police set a perimeter around the hotel. The story ends a few years later with Clarence and Alabama on a beach in Cancún, enjoying a beautiful sunset as a family with a young son they named "Elvis."
Read more about this topic: True Romance
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