5 Movies-Within-Movies We NEED To See (And 5 That Would Suck)
9. We Wish We Could Watch: Coming Home in a Body Bag from True Romance
Tony Scott's True Romance, starring Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette as an ex-call girl and her husband, is a savvy, violent crime movie which is now considered one of Scott's best films.
At a couple of points in the film, Clarence Worley (Slater) makes a brief reference to Coming Home in a Body Bag, a Vietnam War epic produced by the sleazy Lee Donowitz (Saul Rubinek), a producer-cum-drug dealer.
Although Coming Home in a Body Bag is barely mentioned during the film, those handful of references are quite telling: Clarence refers to the movie as his "favorite movie of all time", favorably comparing it to Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now.
While Donowitz is an undeniable sleaze-ball and all-round dodgy guy, he is also, apparently, an excellent producer, and Coming Home in a Body Bag appears to have been a massive success. Furthermore, Clarence appears to be a big movie fan, so his highly positive assessment of the movie is likely accurate. Given that most Vietnam war films, from the aforementioned Apocalypse Now to The Deer Hunter, are instant classics, we will assume that Coming Home in a Body Bag is equally impressive.