Oliver Stone Accused Robert Downey Jr. of ‘Ruining’ ‘Natural Born Killers’ with ‘Slapstick Bullsh*t’

22 comments

1. Downey was a highlight of the movie. If his character was played more straight and normal, it wouldn’t of worked. Every character needed to be cranked to 11.

2. As opposed to everyone else? Did he forget the literal sitcom part of the movie with rodney dangerfield?

3. First of all, I love this movie. And no RDJ didn’t ruin anything. He’s fantastic in this. Also…

   Lets us not forget that this movie has a scene where Rodney Dangerfield implies he’s going to rape his teenage daughter, with a *laugh track* playing in the background. Yet Stone accuses RDJ of slapstick?? Jesus Christ

4. Oliver Stone has brain worms.

5. Robert’s performance was a perfect surreal but also realistic depiction of someone who becomes dramatically radicalized

6. Oliver, you directed the film. Its your job to direct the actors to get the performance that you want. If RDJ was too “slapstick”, it was at your direction (or lack thereof).

7. Shouldn’t he be off supporting Russia in its fight against the free world?

8. BATONGA BATONGA BATONGA IN BATONGAVILLE.

   Still think Wayne Gale is his best performance.

9. I dont know … Oli Stone may in fact be the most over rated director thats been in hollywood.

10. Lol this headline is straight clickbait gore

11. Have you seen an Oliver Stone movie lately? They have not aged well. He uses a lot of cheap cinematic tricks and emotional manipulation. Quite cringey to watch these days IMO.

12. Bro you directed it. That’s on you

13. Lol RDJ was arguably the best part of that mid tier popcorn flick

14. Reddit absolutely REFUSING to believe RDJ may have been difficult to work with in 1994.

15. RDJ was probably the best part of that movie!

16. My friend once said this movie gave him a headache and that’s been an unshakable description for it for me ever since

17. As usual, a lot of comments hooked by the misrepresentation in the title, just responding to the title, not reading the very very short “article” they are commenting on.

    It’s a clickbait title; the text of the article itself makes it clear that it’s not as contentious/combative as the title is trying to imply. Here is the *entire article*; it’ll take a minute or less to read:

    >Oliver Stone felt like he was between a rock and a hard place on the set of “Natural Born Killers.”

    >The auteur told Esquire for the 30th anniversary of the Quentin Tarantino-penned feature that Downey almost went “too far” with a reference to the Lorena Bobbitt scandal, which occurred during production. Bobbitt infamously cut off her husband’s penis, which Downey mocked in a scene.

    >“Oh come on — that’s too much! You’re going too far, Robert,” Stone told the actor as Downey simulated a bloody phallus. “You’re ruining my movie! Forget the dumb dick idea. This isn’t…This isn’t some slapstick bullshit.”

    >However, later Stone asked to “see the dick thing again.” Downey’s trick with his bloodied shirt being pulled through his pants fly made it into the final scene of the film.

    >“I have to say, it was a zoo in the sense the actors were all on different kind of trips,” Stone said of the ensemble cast. “I think Woody was the most sane.”

    >Downey, who struggled with addiction during that era, told Esquire that “the only time I was awake was between Action and Cut.” The Academy Award winner admitted that he had been “nine sheets to the wind” prior to filming a pivotal prison interview sequence.

    >“Everything on the schedule got moved up, and suddenly I needed to be there in two hours. To this day, it was one of the most mortifying notifications I’ve ever received,” Downey said, “because it was a seven-page scene. I got to set and I was absolutely useless. I was then given a therapeutic injection of ‘B12 vitamins’ — I’m just going to put that in quotes, italics, underlined, and question marks on either side. And I have never in my life experienced a more delightful nine hours. But! I looked at the pages left to right, spread out on the floor — only twice — and was off-book. And — it’s the only time this happened during that shoot: You know how sometimes there’s applause from the crew after takes when people are doing movies and really nail it? When I finally got through that day — and Woody nailed it, nailed it, nailed it — then they had to turn around on me. The entire crew applauded because I think intuitively they know that I should not have even been anywhere but an emergency room that morning.”

    >Downey added, “We were all young enough that our resilience factor was cubed compared to if we had been middle-aged guys.”

    >And the legacy of “Natural Born Killers” remains one of Downey’s most beloved projects.

    >“With this movie, Oliver Stone has got something that still bears reexamination,” Downey said, while admitting that the production was “like a precision-executed three-ring circus ballet.”

    >“Oliver Stone is a director who, barring [Christopher] Nolan and maybe a few others, is the highest embodiment of social commentary via cinema,” Downey summed up. “Oliver Stone has never made a movie that wasn’t saying something. Never.”

18. Am I the only one who thinks that Stone is very overrated? See DarthRathikus post. Stone is an asswipe.

19. He was the best part of this sweaty turd.

20. So Oliver Stone doesn’t know how to do his job? By his own admission? Got it

21. He’s playing a character based on Geraldo Riviera……

    So………

22. Hey I just want the guy to reply to me telling me that the article has a clickbait title