Duvall Slams Oscar Winner as 'Horrible' SNL Parody
The legendary actor didn't hold back when discussing a celebrated crime drama that helped define New Hollywood, delivering a brutal assessment that shocked film critics.
At 95, Robert Duvall has earned the right to speak his mind about movies. The veteran actor, whose career spans from The Godfather to Apocalypse Now, recently delivered a scathing critique of one of cinema's most celebrated films that left many scratching their heads.
Duvall's resume reads like a who's who of American cinema. He's shared the screen with everyone from Gregory Peck and John Wayne in the 1960s to Tom Cruise and Robert Downey Jr. in recent decades. His work with Francis Ford Coppola alone would cement his legacy, but add To Kill a Mockingbird, Network, and Sling Blade to the mix, and you've got a performer who knows quality filmmaking.
No Sacred Cows
The actor has never been one to sugarcoat his opinions. He famously despised working with Stanley Kubrick, calling out the director's treatment of actors and dismissing both A Clockwork Orange and The Shining for what he considered poor performances. But his latest target might surprise film buffs even more.
Arthur Penn's Bonnie and Clyde stands as one of the defining films of the New Hollywood movement. The 1967 crime drama broke new ground with its violent realism and anti-establishment themes, earning ten Oscar nominations and winning two. It launched careers and changed how Hollywood approached filmmaking.
Pulling No Punches
None of that impressed Duvall. When asked about a newly restored version he'd recently watched, his response was blunt: "It really sucked." Pressed for details, he doubled down with another emphatic "Sucked!"
His reasoning proved even more damning. "The acting's horrible," Duvall explained to Screen Anarchy. "It's like a Saturday Night Live sketch. And it's an insult to the Texas Rangers. You can ask any one of the Rangers in this. I mean, I don't get... To me, there's something fraudulent about it."
Standing Alone
Duvall wrapped up his assessment with finality: "It doesn't stand up now, and it didn't stand up then." Box office numbers, critical acclaim, and decades of film school analysis would suggest otherwise, but the actor remains unmoved.
The film's enduring reputation as a watershed moment in American cinema means little to someone who lived through that era and helped define it. Sometimes experience breeds appreciation. Other times, it breeds contempt.