Tombstone

 

                  

         Well, ladies and gentlemen, this was the movie that inspired me to watch, A Fistful of Dollars for my May Recommendation. Originally Tombstone was going to be my May Recommendation because the film stars the late great Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday. And to be fair this was my first time watching the movie, but everyone I know through the years has told me that this was Val Kilmer's best movie performance. And I'm trying to find some movies to explore, moreover films that I have never seen or watched before. So, I figured why not check out this one film that everyone considers Val Kilmer's best on screen performance. Although Val Kilmer is the best part of this whole movie, it's everything else that I feel isn't right.

          Wyatt Earp (Kurt Russell) and his brothers, Virgil and Morgan (Sam Elliot and Bill Paxton) have left their gunslinger ways behind them to settle down and start a business in the town of Tombstone, Arizona. While they aren't looking to find trouble, trouble soon finds them when they become targets of a ruthless gang of outlaws. Now, together with Wyatt's best friend Doc Holliday (Val Kilmer), the brothers pick up their guns once more to restore order to a lawless land.

          I should add to this misconception of a plot everything is true though the problem is everything continues after the events at the O.K. Corral which in all honesty that's one of the few problems I had with the movie because I figured this would end in a shootout at the Corral. But after the shootout the movie continues on and it's like well, I would of much preferred if this movie ended in the Corral shootout but it doesn't which feels like they tricked us almost the way Nolan tricked us in The Dark Knight when the truck and Bat Pod was the final standoff, though the only difference is Nolan did it much better, than the Tombstone directors. Speaking of Directors, the film consists of two directors despite the fact the film is credited with just one credited director and one writer. The story goes is the screenwriter of the film Kevin Jarre, who was going to be directing the film as his first directorial debut. Unfortunately, through the course of the film he was overwhelmed with the idea of directing that the producers fired him and replaced him with another director in George P. Cosmatos a literally unknown director who made Rambo 2 and Cobra to take over the reins. Granted the film has that one positive notion and that's of course, the late great Val Kilmer, and through the course of making the movie he practiced constantly on his quick draw as well as handling a gun and the unique tricks, but more importantly gave his character that southern accent charm you see in the movie for which in all fairness, hell there's nothing to say about Val Kilmer, his performance speaks for itself from his broken down persona of being truly sick and being able to fight back is just great to watch and you continue to root for him until he's on his death bed and so, if this movie was solely about him and Kurt Russell is just a side character I would of root of loved the movie from beginning to end. But then everything else is just no good, now I love Kurt Russell to me he will always be Herb Brooks in my mind, but there were times, where he was just chewing to much of the scenery at times especially when one of his brothers die, but then again, he's cheating on his wife with another woman? Now I don't know if this was fact because all the characters are of course real-life characters but, when you meet Dana Delany and he slowly starts to fall in love with her, I'm just like wait are you married to the woman from the movie Fletch. And I'm not judging on the fact that the movie gets crazy on the lawmen just killing all the outlaws and then reading their rights, but it feels like everything in this movie, especially with the story just goes a little on the crazy side and doesn't take it self-serious at times, and I'd wish that we focused more on Wyatt's aspect on just focusing on retirement and hanging around with Doc Holliday, and then he slowly begins to break down on how Tombstone is just getting way out of control and then when we get to the second and third act, he finally takes matters and gets back to being a Sheriff or a Marshall, and he finally cleans up Tombstone and then we set in motion of the O.K. Corral shootout and that's would be how I would make this movie work, though this movie to me feels like at times a TV soap opera, kind of like Doctor Quinn Medicine woman. In my final verdict, I have mixed emotions about the movie and really if Val Kilmer was the star of the film I would love the movie even more but I personally think this movie was just written and directed by guys who have never seen a western in their entire life and just found bits and pieces of a western movie and thought we can do that. If you love Tombstone, go nuts and watch the movie, hell it's on Hulu but I just appreciate Val Kilmer's performance as Doc Holliday because he's literally the best part of the entire movie.