Natural Born Killers (5 Stars)

Believe it or not, I didn't like this film when I first saw it, many years ago. I found it too chaotic.Watching it today I have to say that it's the chaos that makes it appealing. My only problem with the film is that I have difficulty understanding portions of the dialogue. My DVD edition doesn't have subtitles to help me. That's wrong. All DVDs should have subtitles. Woody Harrelson's Texas accent causes me problems when he lets himself go, and Robert Downey Jr. just talks too hectically for me to follow him in the later parts of the film.

Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis play a young couple, Mickey and Mallory, who meet and fall in love. They then go on a killing spree, for no other reason than because it's fun. Their wild lifestyle makes them famous, and when they're arrested a live interview is arranged with Mickey only a few weeks before his planned execution.

Beneath the overt brutality and violence it's a love story, and also a commentary on our modern society. It's not unusual for killers to enjoy popularity. In the 1970's Andreas Baader and his fellow terrorists were admired by more than a quarter of Germans under 30. But the twist in this story is that the two become media celebrities. Director Oliver Stone and writer Quentin Tarantino are holding up a mirror to show how shallow television audiences have become, revelling in murder. Robert Downey Jr. plays the part of Wayne Gale, the host of the tv show "American Maniacs". After showing the slaughter of many prison guards and inmates on live television during Mickey and Mallory's escape from prison he willingly poses for his own execution to be broadcast live.

A beautiful film with supernatural undertones. These are obvious in the scene in the Indian's home, but there's something else that I wouldn't have noticed if not for watching an interview with Oliver Stone. In the prison scene Mickey and Mallory are led to freedom by an inmate called Owen. But this isn't the first time he appears in the film. He appears in scenes throughout the film standing in the background watching over the two killers and keeping them safe. He's not a guardian angel, he's more of a guardian demon. This is most obvious in the opening scene where he's sitting in a diner holding a newspaper with the headline "666 Deaths". He fades away before the killing starts. In the alternate ending Owen says he has "come out of the fire". He asks if he can accompany Mickey and Mallory forever, and when they refuse he kills them. (No, that's not a spoiler, it doesn't happen in the ending used in the film).

I love Juliette Lewis as an actress, but she seems to have "disappeared" over the last 15 years. Apart from this film she had two major roles, in "Cape Fear" (1991) and "From Dusk Till Dawn" (1996). Since then she's been in a lot of films, but only minor roles. Maybe it's deliberate, because she wants to concentrate on her singing career? Whatever the reason, I miss her.

Click here to view the trailer.