I recently watched The Doors, the Oliver Stone film about... well, The Doors. Of course, it's actually more about lead singer Jim Morrison. And when you get down to it, it's really about watching Val Kilmer portray the man. At least, that's the vague consensus I'd always heard about this movie -- Kilmer's the best part.
I didn't come to the movie as a massive fan of the band. There are several songs by The Doors I like quite a bit. Others I find too long-winded. (I'm not much for 4-minute instrumentatal bridges that free the singer up to slip backstage and get high.) Most of their music probably falls between those two extremes.
But whatever I think of The Doors music, I certainly find it more engaging than this movie. I just didn't find it to have much going on to set it apart from other artist biography movies; it pulled from the same bag of tricks that all these movies reach from -- behold the tortured, misunderstood, genius, self-destructive artist. If you've seen Pollock, or Nowhere Boy, or anything along those lines, you've basically seen this movie. This version comes with more drug trips.
It's true, though -- Val Kilmer does give a very good performance in this movie. As I'm not a major afficiando of the band, I can't speak to how credible an "impression" of Jim Morrison it seems, but it is a deeply committed, strong performance. He's a real standout in a cast that includes Meg Ryan, Kyle MacLachlan, Kevin Dillon, and Kathleen Quinlan -- though this is in part due to those other parts being fairly underwritten to focus on the force of nature that was Jim Morrison.
I'd be curious to hear the opinion of someone who is more a fan of the band. I could see them appreciating the material more, and yet simultaneously being put off by the rather negative portrayal of Morrison. There are moments it feels like it's going beyond a "warts and all" portrayal, to reach a literally larger-than-life place; was he really this big an ass?
One performance alone is rarely enough to make me like a movie, and this movie is no exception. I rate The Doors a D.
1 comment:
I am a huge fan of the band. I idolized Jim Morrison when I was a teenager. I was going to see them in St. Louis, but the concert was canceled after the incident in Miami. I've never watched this movie because I believe I have a better Jim Morrison movie in my head. I know that's a weird perspective and no help, but there you go.
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