MOVIE REVIEW : ‘Love and a .45’: Fast, Violent and Funny

C.M. Talkington’s “Love and a .45” sends up the gun-toting lovers-on-the-run genre with a gleeful wit, nonstop energy and a refreshing honesty. It’s a low-budget, stripped-down “Natural Born Killers” that comments on the role of the media in making celebrities of criminals without all the hypocritical hyperbole of the Oliver Stone film.

Right at the start, Talkington, in a potent debut, pinpoints the appeal of such pictures: Audiences can enjoy condescending to those they consider rednecks--and such couples invariably are none-too-bright hicks--while vicariously experiencing the thrill of a wild spree of reckless adventure and passionate sex.

“My granddaddy told me the only two things you need to get by in this world is never to believe anything anyone says and never point a loaded gun,” remarks Gil Bellows’ Watty Watts, petty career criminal, to a wide-eyed 14-year-old (Wiley Wiggins) clerk at an East Texas convenience store he has just robbed. Watty, however, soon disregards his grandfather’s wisdom.

Actually, he’s on the verge of settling down. He’s fallen in love with Renee Zellweger’s giggly, squirmy Starlene, and they’re living in a trailer on the outskirts of town, not so far from that convenience store. He has his treasured ’72 Pontiac, and Starlene, despite her demeanor, is more sensible than he is. She tries to curb him from doing anything too stupid--especially with his skittish, drugged-out fellow ex-con Billy (Rory Cochrane).

There’s this hitch, though: Watty, carried away with love, has secretly purchased a $2,000 engagement ring for Starlene with funds borrowed from an underworld type whose crazed, sadistic strong-arms (Jeffrey Combs, Jace Alexander)--who could be right out of “Pulp Fiction”--are intent upon Watty’s repayment of the loan in timely fashion. As a result, Watty and Starlene are swiftly fugitives, wanted for three murders--never mind that Billy is responsible for one of them and that the other two are in self-defense. Billy and the strong-arms seem far more intent than the law in catching up with the couple, who in time-honored fashion are heading for Mexico. There’s a stopover in San Antonio to visit Starlene’s hilarious suburban hippie parents, played gloriously by Ann Wedgeworth and Peter Fonda.

Although Talkington has roots deep in Texas himself, he writes, as part of his satire, quaintly exaggerated dialogue that nobody would speak in real life. “Love and a .45” is a comic book, not to be taken seriously, yet Talkington’s people are real, well-drawn, even though they’re caricatures. Talkington not only has style but also a terrific way with actors, giving them the confidence to go over the top while having fun doing so. Shrewdly, he keeps Watty and Starlene as a pair of ultra-sexy innocents in a cold, brutal world. He doesn’t ask us to like them, but don’t be surprised if you find yourself wanting them to make good on their getaway.

As Watty and Starlene become hyped on TV and in the press, Starlene deliriously compares herself and Watty to Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty, but Watty says it all when he quietly replies, “Everybody gets caught and killed in those movies.”

* MPAA rating: R, for strong violence and language and for sexuality and drug use . Times guidelines: Although depictions of violence are presented comically, they are often extreme and graphic .

‘Love and a .45’

Gil Bellows: Watty Watts Renee Zellweger: Starlene Rory Cochrane: Billy Mack Ann Wedgeworth: Thaylene Peter Fonda: Vergil A Trimark Pictures presentation. Writer-director C.M. Talkington. Producer Darin Scott. Cinematographer Tom Richmond. Editor Bob Duscay. Costumes Kari Perkins. Music Tom Verlaine. Production designer Deborah Pastor. Art director D. Montgomery. Set decorator Marcus Brown. Running time: 1 hour, 41 minutes.

* In limited release at the Regent Theatre, 1945 Broxton Ave., Westwood, (310) 289-MANN.