Cast: Woody Harrelson, Juliette Lewis, Robert Downey, Jr., Tommy Lee Jones

Category: Action, Crime, Drama, Romance, Thriller

Never one to avoid controversy with preceding films like Scarface (1983), Platoon (1986) and Wall Street (1987), Stone caused his biggest storm yet with this hardcore satirical comment on the relationship between the media and the violence that feeds it.

This twisted, extremely graphic film centers on Mickey and Mallory, star-crossed psychopaths who decide they’ve had enough of people putting down their relationship, so they naturally embark on a cross-country murder trip across America to profess their love, with media heavyweight Wayne Gale following their every move, turning them into media superstars in the process.

The uniqueness of this film in almost every aspect is added to by the respectable performances of each cast member. Tommy Lee Jones’ prison warden is a prime example of how overacting in a film can be excused if the construction of the character calls for it (see: Tony Montana), while Rodney Dangerfield is menacingly brilliant as Mallory’s lecherous father, so much so that you, as the viewer, will find yourself almost cheering when he meets his demise in an appropriately graphic fashion.

As citizens of this country, it’s very easy to criticize flavour-of-the-month Robert Downey Jnr. for not exactly nailing the Australian accent required as Wayne Gale. Despite this setback, he contributes positively to each scene; none more enjoyable than when he finally cracks and lets his ‘inner demon’ get the better of him during the action-packed climax.

Naturally, Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis run the show as Mickey and Mallory Knox. Harrelson’s performance becomes infinitely more enjoyable if you’ve seen Zombieland (2009) beforehand, where it becomes obvious that Tallahassee is just a caricature of Mickey. Don’t get me wrong, both characters have a sense of humour, but that doesn’t mean Mickey will make you laugh. Coming off a subtle and criminally underrated showing in Cape Fear, Lewis gives a career-best performance as the unconventional femme fatale, stealing every scene and bringing to life one of the greatest roles ever written for a female in doing so.

With the impressive variety in acting out of the way, it is the cinematography of Natural Born Killers that gives it its exclusive look. Stone and Richardson lay a no-holds-barred attack on the senses, switching frequently between technicolour, monocolour, black-and-white, animation and back-to-front projection. One does get the impression, after a while, that this is just done without purpose, but a little bit of research proves that each physical change in the film’s appearance symbolizes a different aspect of the themes being pushed.

Too often, film connoisseurs get swept up with two very irrelevant outcomes of Natural Born Killers. Firstly, the influence that this film has had on society (i.e. encouraging mentally-unstable people to commit crimes) may be substantiated, but should not be included in a critical review, which should instead focus on the film as a stand-alone piece of art.

Second (and I must admit I was once encompassed by this way of thinking) is the well-documented fall-out between Stone and scriptwriter Quentin Tarantino. While many of the scenes and dialogue from QT’s original script are retained, an exact copy of the original tells us that Tarantino intended to have Wayne Gale as the centerpiece character, and I don’t believe the film would have had quite the same impact if Harrelson and Lewis were forced to take a back seat to RDJ. And let’s not forget, after consciously separating himself from any involvement with the film, QT released the masterful Pulp Fiction that same year. If he can move on, maybe everyone else should, too.

In a single sentence, Natural Born Killers is a quirky, art-house film adapted for mainstream audiences. In retrospect, I’ve probably gone somewhat overboard reviewing the acting aspect of this film, but that wouldn’t be the case if I didn’t think those involved were impressive and innovative in their performances. Definitely not for everyone, but appeals to the evil in all of us…and doesn’t Stone know it.

8/10.

Author Bio: Johnny Hollywood

One day, a good friend started calling me Hollywood because of my never-ending desire to talk about films, and the nickname stuck like glue. There’s only one thing I love more than reviewing movies, and that’s discussing them with everybody and anybody, so never hesitate to tell me what you think about my work.