873. Natural Born Killers (1994)

Running Time: 120 minutes
Directed By: Oliver Stone
Written By: David Veloz, Richard Rutowski, Oliver Stone, from story by Quentin Tarantino
Main Cast: Woody Harrelson, Juliette Lewis, Robert Downey Jr., Tom Sizemore, Tommy Lee Jones
Click here to view the trailer

STONE WEEK: 4 of 4

Today I conclude "Stone Week" and "Natural Born Killers" gets the deciding vote on whether I'll ultimately commend Oliver Stone as a good filmmaker or condemn him as a bad one. Here Olive Stone tells the tale of Mickey and Mallory, a script originally written by Quentin Tarantino, before he became famous.

The movie is made or broken in the plot, but rather in the experience of watching it and taking it all in. However, because I'm a creature of habit, I simply must relay the plot for you. The film centers around Mickey (Harrelson) and Mallory Knox (Lewis), a married couple (although their wedding consisted of them cutting their palms, holding hands and being their own priest) who are going cross country, making media headlines as serial killers.  The "M & M Murders" get worldwide publicity and everyone from Paris, France to Hoston, Texas are talking about Micky and Mallory, buying magazines with their faces on it and becoming consumed with the media blitzkrieg. Mickey and Mallory's calling card, if you will, consists of them leaving one person alive at each of their murder sites, so that person can tell the world that Mickey and Mallory struck again. Meanwhile, Wayne Gale (Downey Jr.) is becoming famous off the names of M & M, centering his television show, "American Maniacs" around the demonic couple. There's also Detective Jack Scagnetti (Sizemore), a famous cop who's on the trail of M & M. Eventually things go south for Mickey and Mallory, as they kill an Indian who takes them in and shelters them and are subsequently bitten by a rattlesnake, leading to their arrest and imprisonment.

I'm struggling with this one, because on one hand I REALLY hated it and on the other hand, the few things I did like about it, I really liked. Why don't we start with the good and segue into the bad. In a 2007 interview, Quentin Tarantino had the following to say about "Natural Born Killers", when asked if he ever got around to watching it:

(paraphrasing)
"I was enjoying it until the terrible Mallory Knox sitcom thing"

BINGO! That's where all my interest went down the tubes as well. But, hey, we're talking about the good first, so I will say that the opening is ONE OF the best openings I've seen in a long time. The music is perfect, the dialogue is perfect and it certainly did it's job and hooked me in for the ride. Unfortunately, I was begging to get out about twenty minutes down the road. So, it's not hard to see why Tarantino was enjoying himself up to that stupid "sitcom thing". In fact, even this bit of dialogue sounds like it was plucked directly out of a Tarantino film:

Mickey: Maam, what kind of pies do you have?
Waitress: Well we got um...Apple, Pecan, Cherry and Key Lime
Mickey: Which do you reccomend?
Waitress: Well the Key Lime's great but it's an acquired taste.
Mickey: Well I ain't had Key Lime pie in ten years
Waitress: When you had it did you like it?
Mickey: No, but that don't mean much, I was a completely different person back then.
(pause)
Mickey: Lets give that Key Lime pie a day in court and a big 'ol glass of nonfat milk, if you please.

I LOVED this exchange, it was perfect and while I'm on the subject, who knew Woody Harrelson had these kinds of skills in him. I'm not just talking about this scene, but he's perfect throughout the entire film and gets added to a long list of actors I need to see more stuff from. Also, again we get an absolute knockout performance from Tommy Lee Jones and while he doesn't have a whole lot of screen time, he damn near steals the show when he gets the opportunity - add his name to that same list.

Once that Mallory Knox "sitcom thing" came on though, I knew me and this film just weren't going to jive. I knew Oliver Stone, like always, was going to take a less traveled path in telling his story and everything was going to be very unconventional. Stone uses animation, black and white photography and back and front projection to tell his story and ultimately it just didn't work for me. I loved what I was able to love and took away what I was able to take away, but in the end, I just can't give "Natural Born Killers" a recommendation. It was far too weird for my tastes and hey, I'm all for a little weirdness, but this fucking thing is as weird as shit! And, of course, as per usual Oliver Stone is trying to make some sort of statement about the media and violence and the glorification of evil men and I'm really tired of having statements made on me. Tarantino also said in an interview that if you like his movies, you probably won't like "Natural Born Killers" and if you like Stone's work, you'll probably love it. I love me a Tarantino movie, so I guess he nailed it there.

RATING: 4/10  That might be too generous of a rating, but maybe not. I liked "NBK" better than "Platoon" and "Salvador", but would have to give "JFK" the honors of being the best Stone flick I watched this week.

A WORD OR TWO ABOUT OLIVER STONE

I don't like him. 'Nuff said.

Just kidding.

To say that Oliver Stone was a bad filmmaker would be too easy, so I'll just say that Oliver Stone was a fine filmmaker, who just happened to make films that didn't appeal to me. I'm sure there are people out there who love his work and good for them, because it's obvious that the guy has a great deal of talent. Unfortunately, his films and my tastes just weren't a match made in heaven and in the end, I'd have to put him in the thumbs down column when it comes to listing director's. Oliver Stone was more concerned with making statements, rather than telling stories. The director's that I admire are the one's who are the best storytellers and when I look at Stone's work, I don't see a good storyteller, I simple see someone who is technically great at making movies and that's not good enough for me. There was also the case of just not being interested in a lot of what his movies were about - the Vietnam War, the Salvador crisis, etc. I liked "JFK" a lot, but not necessarily for the direction, but because I found the subject matter to be very interesting. With "NBK", I admired Stone's vision and applaud him for trying something different, when a lot of director's would find solace in the safety of a formulaic mold. However, "NBK" just didn't work for me. Anyway, in closing, let me say that if you're looking for a really good Oliver Stone movie and one that also gets my seal of approval, then check out "U-Turn". A lot of people trash it, but I really liked, you get a good performance from Sean Penn and a nice little story.

On a side note, if THE BOOK insisted on including four Oliver Stone movies, here's the four I wish they'd have chosen.

1. U-Turn
2. Born on the Fourth of July
3. JFK
4. (tie) Wall Street (because I've never seen it and want to)/The Doors (because it's not bad, although still not a "must see")

MOVIES WATCHED: 573
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 428

November 6, 2012  6:47pm