READ THIS FIRST: This is a 12-inch Diameter Laserdisc, which is NOT the same as DVD and cannot be played on a DVD player!

Laserdisc Title: "LOVE & A.45"
Edition: Fullscreen Edition (Single Disc)
Directed By: C.M. Talkington
Starring: Jace Alexander, Gil Bellows, Kevin Berve, Michael Bowen, Rory Cochraine
Production / Year: 1994 Trimark Pictures
Running Time: 102 Minutes / Color
Audio Format: Digital Sound, Dolby Surround, Stereo, CX Encoded
Video Format: NTSC, CLV (Extended Play)
Miscellaneous Features: Rated R, Closed Captioned
Distributed By: Vidmark Entertainment
Catalog / Spine Number: LDCVM5787

Cosmetic Condition:
Disc (s): Very Good - Few very light to very minor hairline surface swirls or very light fingerprint marks
Jacket: Good - Normal shelf wear, some dings on cover, few creases, minor scuffs, slightly worn-out corners or edges and a small taped-up split on bottom spine

Synopsis:

Does anyone else besides me enjoy seeing a big name movie star before they made it big? While this wasn't Renée Zellweger's first film role, it was certainly the first where she had a starring credit, and certainly a far cry from her more demure character in 1996's Jerry Mcguire. Love and a .45 (1994), written and directed by Texas native C.M. Talkington (his first writing and directing credit) stars, along with Ms. Zellweger, an early appearance by Gil Bellows (who appeared in a much more famous film the same year titled The Shawshank Redemption and then found a greater degree of fame on the hit FOX television show Ally McBeal), and the ever-entertaining Rory Cochrane, who was once involved with Zellweger, and would later appear with her in Empire Records (1995). Also appearing are Jeffrey Combs (Re-Animator), Jace Alexander (Eight Men Out), Ann Wedgeworth (My Science Project), Michael Bowen (Night of the Comet), and Peter Fonda (Easy Rider).

The movie, set in Texas, features Bellows and Zellweger as Watty Watts and Starlene Cheatham, respectively, as a young couple in love living together in modest, mobile surroundings (a trailer home) with their main source of income being Watty robbing convenience stores every once in awhile, when not studying or quoting philosophically from the I Ching. Life has been pretty good for the couple, but Starlene has been pushing for Watty to make an honest woman of her, which leads Watty to borrow a large sum of money from an unscrupulous source (loan shark), and now he must contend with two speed-addicted, gun totin' (does everyone in Texas carry a gun?) collection agents in Dinosaur Bob (Combs) and Creepy Cody (Alexander). Stealing from convenient stores, as you may have figured, while relatively easy, doesn't usually net a large haul, so when Watty's slimy prison buddy Billy Mack Black (Cochrane) comes by with a tip on a large score, Watty sees a chance to get out from under the loan shark's thumb. Things don't go as planned as a clerk gets killed (Billy Mack broke one of Watty's cardinal rules of never carrying a loaded gun, and he's also seriously addicted to crystal meth, a form of speed that makes one highly unpredictable apparently), Watty and Billy have a falling out (ending with Billy getting a fork stuck in an uncomfortable place). Watty, fearing legal entanglements (jail) decides to head for Mexico with his new bride Starlene, with Dinosaur Bob, Creepy Cody, and Billy Mack not far behind, two looking for the money owed, and the third looking for revenge. Oh yeah, Watty and Starlene are now also plastered all over the TV as a state wide hunt by Texas Law enforcement gears up (the clerk who got killed was related to someone high up within the law enforcement community). Yes, Mexico's looking pretty good for Watty and Starlene, what with three trigger-happy speed freaks and the state of Texas, where the popular form of capital punishment is the electric char, hot on their heels.

I did enjoy this film a lot. I've noticed others have compared it to Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers (which came out the same year), and while there are certainly similarities, I believe Love and a .45 stands on its' own without, as another reviewer astutely stated, all the pretension or psychotropic cinematography of Stone's film. If anything, I would compare it more to David Lynch's Wild at Heart, which came out four years earlier. I think Talkington did a wonderful job in the writing and directing of his first film, much better than many others' first outings. Not only did he present fun, engaging, and interesting characters, but he also used the backdrop of Texas well, suggesting an intimate familiarity of a true native of the state (which he is).

THIS IS NOT A DVD!!! THIS IS A 12" LASERDISC AND WILL NOT PLAY IN A DVD PLAYER

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