I think the picture used to promote this movie in a recent film festival program is very telling that this isn’t going to be your ordinary run-of-the-mill lovey dovey mushfest. The picture is of an enraged man standing before a car that’s been beaten to s**t. And not Tom Hanks or Billy Crystal enraged, but Michael Ironside enraged. Date movie seekers – this should be your warning.
The lives of several Los Angeles city dwellers intersect as the harsh reality of love kicks them in the a*s. There’s no real plot here, just a few blossoming and eroding relationships, so I’ll refrain from recounting too many details as they should be viewed and experienced. But in short we see a marriage strained due to infertility and then infidelity; a lonely woman can’t stop (for lack of a better term) looking for love in all the wrong places; and a new relationship teeters on the brink of destruction due to anger management issues. There’s no sugar coating here, just raw and natural relationships, portrayed by a unique and magnetic cast.
Generally films in the past about “true love” are puff pieces made for people to escape the reality that love isn’t always rainbows, unicorns and marshmallow hearts. Henry Barrial’s “True Love” brings it back down to Earth by showing that love, in its truest form, can often be hard work. Perhaps “True Love” could be a fine date movie, but prepare for some possible uneasy conversation with your significant other afterwards.
