Natural Born Killers (1994)

Thirty years ago, this in-your-face violent satire of murder and media consumption was released to a mixture of acclaim and controversy.  Oscar-winning director Oliver Stone (Platoon, Wall Street) presented us with the story of Mickey (Woody Harrelson) and Mallory (Juliette Lewis), two crazy lovers who are on a murder spree across the country.  What results is not only a national manhunt for them leading to incarceration at a prison lead but a brutal warden (Tommy Lee Jones) but a full-on media circus, with the host (Robert Downey Jr.) of a popular true-crime show at the center of it.  What results is a nutso movie which divided both critics and audiences alike, while also remaining a time capsule of one particular era when the likes of Joey Buttafuoco or Lorena Bobbitt became household names. 

Host: Geoff Gershon
Edited By Ella Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon

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Transcript

NATURAL BORN KILLERS - 1994

Directed by Oliver Stone

Starring Woody Harrelson, Juliette Lewis, Robert Downey Jr., Tommy Lee Jones, Tom Sizemore, Edie McClurg, Jared Harris, Russell Means, Maria Pitillo, Sean Stone, Everett Quinton, O-Lan Jones, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Steven Wright, O-Lan Jones, and Rodney Dangerfield

Genre: Satirical Thriller (Audio clip)

This movie is an acquired taste for sure....I can totally see how if some one who saw it without any historical context or if THIS was the first Oliver Stone film they saw, they might find it completely off-putting. It's very much of its time as this was smack during all of the early '90's media circuses surrounding various crime-based celebrities like Amy Fisher, Lorena Bobbitt, Jeffrey Dahmer, the Menendez brothers, and of course....OJ. 😮 Lord knows that Stone was never one for subtlety but I have to say that he still crafted a dizzyingly entertaining movie for the most part with some potentially insightful things to say. 

It also helps that his casting was SPOT-ON as I can't imagine any actors pulling off Mickey and Mallory with this much flair better than Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis at this particular time. They're just sublime delivering high-wire performances of two performative sociopaths who have just become increasingly comfortable playing the parts of performative sociopaths even when they're the only audience present! You also have PEAK unhinged Downey (due to unfortunate personal reasons) playing a flamboyant Australian muckraker along with peak unhinged TLJ (during his bat-shit post-Oscar victory lap/cash-in period which included this, Blown Away, AND Two-Face) playing a demented prison warden with HIDEOUS facial hair. 🙃 Every one just has it dialed up to 11 so every point lands and lands and lands....

And thanks to next-level editing from Brian Berdan and Hank Corwin plus Stone's regular DP Robert Richardson (who was already mastering various film stock often within the same scene on JFK, just ramping up that practice further here), this film becomes a relentless sensory experience. 

Overall, this movie just remains equal parts funny and disturbing....and for the most part, pretty invigorating cinema. There are no shortage of crazy swings, least of all an appearance by the late great Rodney Dangerfield early on in an utterly grotesque incest-infused sitcom-style flashback sequence which actually feels more like a live action episode of "Family Guy" in retrospect. 🤔 It's the textbook definition of a "You Had To Be There!" time-capsule movie and if you WEREN'T....well it helps to have been a NIN fan at least.

Best Needle drop (best song cue or score used throughout runtime of film): 

And that's not even taking into account this film's impressively spliced up soundtrack FILLED with eclectic music from Leonard Cohen, Nine Inch Nails, Bob Dylan, Dr Dre, and....take your pick, there's gotta be some 'Stones in there right? 😄 (Surprisingly not) But it's an impressive collection of music which I can recall was an INSTANT purchase for me right after seeing this in theaters as a college sophomore....and amongst such a wide variety of tracks, there is actually one which has always stood out to me the most.  In fact, you could easily refer it as “The Love Theme for Natural Born Killers.” (Audio clip) 

We hear this early on during a sort-flashback sequence as Mickey is in jail writing a love letter to Mallory….and he starts recounting not only when they met but when they also had an ad-hoc wedding up on a high bridge while on the lam.  As you would expect, the courtship itself is absurd but the actual music we hear playing over this is genuinely romantic…..it’s a remake/cover of a ballad from the Velvet Underground, THIS version is from Toronto’s OWN….alt-rock/alt-country band The Cowboy Junkies featuring LOVELY vocals from Margo Timmons, the lead singer.  The gorgeous mid-tempo ballad is ”Sweet Jane.” (Audio clip) 

Wasted Talent (most under-utilized talent involved with film):

Now to address the elephant in the room when it comes to who actually wrote the screenplay for this movie…..that would be Quentin Tarantino, he sold this one early in his career before even Reservoir Dogs was released.  Apparently Stone took the basic outline of that screenplay along with some key dialogue exchanges, and then HEAVILY reworked it to make it into much more of an in-your-face satire than a face value crime story which was Tarantino’s intent.  Since before this film’s release, Tarantino has disavowed this movie and even very recently, he has been quoted as stating that he absolutely DESPISES this movie.  Even though I can see where Tarantino is coming from, I’m somewhat mixed on this.  Yes I would have been just as interested to see THAT version of the story play out too…..this was among the same batch of screenplays Tarantino did at the time for True Romance and Reservoir Dogs….hell yeah that could have been a FANTASTIC movie.  However this being JFK-era Stone and a true peak for HIM as a filmmaker as well….I still like that he expanded the scope somewhat for his own purposes.  Back in '94, a full-blown MTV-style deconstruction of the heavily MTV-influenced media environment was likely inevitable so why NOT him? :) 

Trailer Moment (scene or moment that best describes this movie):

The structure of this movie and the overall editing is just SO segmented, you could almost refer to this as a series of attempted…..trailer moments.  But if I had to choose ONE standout sequence, it would likely be Mickey’s vaunted TV interview with Wayne Gale, the host of “American Maniacs” played by Downey….sporting his ridiculous, over-the-top Australian accent. (Audio clip) 

Now upon first watch, this whole exchange COULD potentially be a summation for this film’s main thesis, the aim of this story…it gets somewhat philosophical with discussions of man’s humanity to man, generational trauma, etc….but REALLY?  It’s just three individuals REALLY showboating for the audience: Harrelson’s Mickey….RDJ’s Wayne….and yeah…..the director Oliver Stone.  The interviewer and interviewee are both trying to SOUND profound but they’re just putting on a show….and I would gather THAT’S kind of the point.  Still as performed and pieced together – once again with a variety of film stocks, flashbacks, close-ups of other characters nearby, and spliced in some genuinely absurd images including a brief shot of a headless man sitting down in is living room – it’s a damn impressive sequence with the intention of unnerving you and entertaining you at the same time, which it succeeds in doing. (Audio clip) 

MVP (person or people most responsible for the success of this film):

At the end of the day despite MAJOR assistants from his team of editors, this unique on the increasingly intertwined relationship between media and murderous violence could only come out THIS way from ONE particular filmmaker at ONE particular point in his career.  To steal terminology from a very popular podcast which also happens to be one of my favorites, this movie is the TEXTBOOK definition of a “Blank Check” project….after the surprising breakout success of films like Born on the Fourth of July along with previous episodes JFK, Platoon, and Wall Street, Stone had proven himself adept at crafting uniquely dark and idiosyncratic epics focusing on controversial subjects with SIGNIFICANT budgets and featuring real stars.  

No other major filmmaker has gone THIS far out on a limb with major studio backing since then….you COULD say Chris Nolan but not really as his films have always been constructed within popular genres like spy thrillers or superhero action movies.  For pulling off his own unique vision for a very of-the-moment which is many ways defies any particular genre, Oliver Stone is the MVP. 

Final Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Happy 30th Anniversary to one of the most twisted moviss of the 1990’s and DEFINITELY one of the more spot-on time capsules films from that era 

Streaming on Apple TV+

And that ends another DEPRAVED review!