Natural Born Killers (R, 1994)

NATURAL BORN KILLERS tracks the rise to stardom of a serial killing couple, Mickey (Woody Harrelson) and Mallory (Juliette Lewis), as they blaze a trail of destruction across the U.S. and are eventually captured and jailed. The real stars of the film aren't Mickey and Mallory, but rather, the many aspects of the news and entertainment media that are regurgitated and lampooned throughout the film. Wayne Gale (Robert Downey, Jr.) is an overzealous TV reporter caught up in the frenzy of pursuing the couple.

With the focus of the film being on the media reaction to Mickey and Mallory's crimes, the plot mechanics don't really demand much viewer attention. In a sense, the most important single character is Gale, whose obliviousness to the effects of his news reports on an increasingly sadistic audience acts as a model for the media machine Stone criticizes. Ultimately, this film is a satire with no soft edges or rays of hope. Those unwilling to see the film as a criticism of media violence may misinterpret it as an exaggerated celebration of the violent main characters. As such, this is a film that will only satisfy those already inclined towards negative views of the media, and only the most open-minded of those folks at that.