Robert Duvall Slams Bonnie and Clyde’s Acting as ‘Awful’

Robert Duvall has been in the game long enough to have worked with some of the biggest names across generations, so when he calls out a film, people tend to listen. With a career that’s seen him in everything from The Godfather and Apocalypse Now to To Kill a Mockingbird and True Grit, Duvall’s got a fair bit of experience under his belt. Even at 95, he’s still going strong, having shared the screen with legends like Gregory Peck, Steve McQueen, John Wayne, Tom Cruise, and Robert De Niro, just to name a few.

Despite his impressive run, Duvall’s never been one to sugarcoat his opinions. He’s not interested in putting classic films on a pedestal just because everyone else does. He’s even had a go at Stanley Kubrick, saying he couldn’t stand the way Kubrick treated actors and wasn’t shy about bagging out the performances in A Clockwork Orange and The Shining. That’s a pretty bold stance, considering how much those films are loved.

Not a Fan of ‘Bonnie and Clyde’

While Duvall might not have always been the main bloke in the spotlight like Jack Nicholson or Dustin Hoffman, he was still a big part of the era that shook up Hollywood. One film that’s often credited with kicking off that whole movement is Arthur Penn’s Bonnie and Clyde. It was a real game-changer at the time, breaking away from what punters expected from big studio releases and earning its place as a landmark in film history.

But Duvall’s not having a bar of it. He recently told Screen Anarchy,

“I saw recently a newly restored version of Bonnie and Clyde. It really sucked.”

When pressed for more, he doubled down with another,

“Sucked!”

Eventually, he explained,

“The acting’s horrible. 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.”

Classic Status Doesn’t Impress Everyone

Duvall didn’t stop there. He reckons the film

“doesn’t stand up now, and it didn’t stand up then.”

That’s a pretty tough call, especially considering Bonnie and Clyde pulled in a heap at the box office, scored two Oscars from ten nominations, and is still seen as a turning point in American cinema. But Duvall’s not fussed about popular opinion—he’s sticking to his guns.

For all its accolades and lasting influence, Bonnie and Clyde clearly didn’t win over everyone. Duvall’s take might ruffle a few feathers, but after decades in the industry, he’s earned the right to call it as he sees it.