True Love Reviews

The top prize-winner at the 1989 US Film festival, TRUE LOVE is a low-budget feature debut which, while no landmark, is an entertaining comedy filled with likable characters. Like fellow NYU alum Martin Scorsese, first-time director Nancy Savoca turned for inspiration to her own working-class Italian-American roots to create this story. The film centers on the strong but somewhat empty-headed Donna (Annabella Sciorra) who is determined to get her man Michael (Ron Eldard) to the altar. Michael doesn't mind getting engaged and exchanging an occasional "I love you," but who would rather pal around with his neighborhood buddies than actually exchange marriage vows. The story is as old as the movies themselves, but the uncanny resemblance its people and situations bear to real life makes TRUE LOVE enjoyable. The characters are created with care and a feeling for individuality, and each scene comes to life with humor and poignancy. Among the cast, the most pleasant surprise is Sciorra, in her first feature.