The Doors

I totally agree with several before me that at some point in the film, one forgets he is watching Val Kilmer play the late Jim Morrison. This is a marvelous performance by a gifted actor. His physical appearance and voice really capture the essence of one of the top five or six rock bands ever. There is lots of documentary footage of the doors because they came along when videotaping and filming were everywhere, so to capture a realistic display of performances in a film had too be good. We get to watch the guys slowly evolve. We get to see how Morrison held sway over the group. Ray Manzarek had an incredible talent of his own, and yet he kept being dwarfed by the charismatic lead singer. There were times when Morrison's performances were almost transcendent. The music is really good here as well.

My Rating: **1/2 out of ****.

One thing you can say about Oliver Stones The Doors is that Stone has no intention of forcing the audience to like the main character. Stone spends almost the entire 138 minutes making Jim Morrison into the biggest asshole that he possibly can. Really, when I first rented this film I had no idea what to expect since Oliver Stone is sort of hit-or-miss with me. I can honestly say the film held my attention completely but at the end I was unsatisfied with what I had seen.

The remaining members of The Doors have criticized this film saying that it only portrayed one side of Morrison and that some of the actions in the film were far worse than anything he ever did (throwing the TV in the studio for instance). To be honest, I felt exactly the same way. By the end I was like, "There has to be more to this man than this!!!!"." I know Morrison had drinking and drug problems, and thats on full display. Stone makes clear that we see the flaws of Morrison and pretty much nothing else. If Stone wanted to make a film that showed the dark side of a rock star than he accomplished his goal admirably.

But the film is just too disappointingly shallow. Morrison was supposedly a very shy front-man at first which we actually do see in the beginning when he sings with his back turned toward the audience. It's a shame Stone didn't explore this "shy, intelligent" man that the Doors always talk about instead of the sadistic asshole on display here. If Stone had made Morrison into a more well-rounded character than this could have been a great film.

What cannot be criticized about the film is Val Kilmer's electrifying performance. Forget the small little flaws like Kilmer is six inches taller than Morrison was and that Kilmers face is a little fatter than Morrisons and just watch this magnificent piece of acting. I have never been that impressed with Val Kilmer's acting ability before I saw this film so seeing him in this was a mindblowing experience. He completely inhabits Morrison and its hard to believe he was actually the second choice for the role. This will undoubtedly be a career best for Kilmer and it is a damn shame he didn't at least get an Oscar Nomination.

The supporting cast is also impressive, particularly Meg Ryan. Ryan excels much more in lighter roles but here she dos a very good job as Morrison's girlfriend, Pamela Courson. Kevin Dillon, Kyle MacLachlan, and Frank Whaley do the best they can with limited screen time as the remaining members of The Doors.

Stone's films have always been uneven when it comes to visual styles. In such films as Natural Born Killers, Any Given Sunday, and to some extent, Nixon, they have been exercises of cinematic masturbation with hyper editing and completely unnecessary film stock switches. Fortunately, thats not the case here as the film has a more straightforward look that complements the film well instead of distracting us.

Stone can make a compelling film and The Doors is never boring. It has a lot of good points: a tremendous lead performance, impressive supporting work, effective cinematography, and a great soundtrack. Its a shame that the film is hampered by a shallow script. If the script were better it is quite possible The Doors could have been a great film. As it stands, its a compelling, though definitely disappointing film.

It's 1965 L.A. Jim Morrison (Val Kilmer), UCLA film student, meets Pam Courson (Meg Ryan). He quits school and forms The Doors with Ray Manzarek (Kyle MacLachlan), John Densmore (Kevin Dillon), and Robby Krieger (Frank Whaley). They become one of the foremost counter culture rock banks of the era. The band drifts apart as Jim travels a different path with witchy journalist Patricia Kennealy (Kathleen Quinlan). In 1970, he faces charges for exposing himself during a Miami concert. He's living with Pam when he dies in Paris at age 27 in 1971.

Director Oliver Stone delivers a solid biopic with his cinematic style to depict the drugged out hippie time and the chaotic nature of the band. Val Kilmer delivers his most impressive performance of his career. The movie could probably add some drama but I'm not sure how exactly. The world is burning down and he's a part of the chaos. His end is predictable for fans and newcomers alike. There may be a dramatic story in there somewhere.

Watching Oliver Stone's The Doors can be at times a frustrating experience. Considering the central figure in the film is pretty much always drunk or stoned or both the entire plot seems to unfold in a bit of a haze. Those watching the film may come away feeling a little stoned themselves. Yet through the drug and alcohol-fueled haze this film does have a lot to recommend it. Most notably it has one of the most stunningly brilliant acting performances you could ever hope to see. Val Kilmer, playing Jim Morrison, is simply perfect in the role. It sounds clichéd but Kilmer really seems to become Morrison. The physical resemblance is eerie and their voices are so similar it is fairly impossible when listening to the film's soundtrack to figure out when exactly you're hearing Morrison and when you're hearing Kilmer. Tracing Morrison's journey from shy, reserved youth to manic, drugged-out rock god the performance by Kilmer is mesmerizing throughout.

As good as Kilmer is you can't help but feel that his performance deserved to be surrounded by a better film. The film might as well have been titled "Morrison" because it is much more the story of one man than it is the story of his band. And therein lies much of the problem because while Kilmer is undeniably terrific, Morrison, at least as he is portrayed in this film, is not a very sympathetic character. That shy, quiet guy we see on the beach at the film's beginning becomes a bit of a monster, at times almost completely unlikable. And since the film revolves entirely around Morrison it makes the film often hard to embrace. Many would argue that Morrison was unfairly portrayed here, not nearly as mean-spirited and hot-tempered as we are led to believe. The truth probably lies somewhere in between but the fact remains that in this film it is very hard to embrace Jim Morrison and as such it is very hard to completely embrace the film.

With the focus almost completely on Kilmer's Morrison the rest of the cast comes off as little more than bit players. Kyle MacLachlan as keyboardist Ray Manzarek has the most to do amongst the remaining band members and his performance is fine but it really gets swallowed up by the ever-present and always center stage Morrison. Meg Ryan, playing Morrison's longtime companion Pamela Courson, is allowed only to react to Morrison's antics and never establishes a character and identity of her own. Even when stoned out of her mind, as everybody in this film always seems to be, Pamela comes across as the wholesome girl next door who is, well, rather dull. Kathleen Quinlan has a more memorable turn as another woman in Morrison's life, Patricia Kennealy, who is anything but dull. But again her character is there only to serve Jim. It's always about Jim. Nobody could deny that Jim Morrison was the most captivating figure in The Doors. But as the film unfolds and you watch Morrison stumble from one stupor to the next you'll probably wish we could have spent a little more time with some of the other characters. This film version of Jim Morrison is a hard guy to love.

So in the end what are we left with? You get one awe-inspiring, magnificent performance but that performance overshadows everything else going on in the film. You get a fascinating life story but one that unfortunately proceeds mostly in a frustrating drug-induced haze. You certainly get a tremendous soundtrack with all of The Doors' most notable songs. Well, most of them anyway. There seems to be a real yin and yang with this movie. There is plenty that is very good about it, but all that is good seems to be balanced out by something which frustrates. Jim Morrison led an extraordinary life but this film which tells his tale ends up being rather ordinary.

Although less popular now, Jim Morrison was an American pop culture icon during the late 1960s. He liked to refer to himself as "Mr. Mojo Risin", an anagram of his name. Oliver Stone's film "The Doors" is mostly about Morrison ... his rise to stardom in the 1960s, his personality, and his mysterious death in 1971.

Influenced in childhood by American Indians, Morrison grew up fascinated with Indian Shamanism, elements of which he would later infuse into his poetry and music while hanging out in the mid 60s in the hip areas of Los Angeles. Here he would meet musician Ray Manzarek (Kyle MacLachlan). Along with two other band members, the group would form "The Doors", a name Morrison borrowed from the title of Aldous Huxley's book on drug use and enlightenment, called "The Doors Of Perception". During this time Morrison comes across as sensitive, shy, poetic, and an idealistic dreamer. The film's first hour is quite good. We get some insights into Jim's early years, and we get to hear some of that great music, like "Riders On The Storm", and "Light My Fire".

The film's second half is less interesting. Morrison himself has changed, as a result of his celebrity status. His narcissism, his boozing and drug use, have turned his world into chaos, which is evident in a couple of staged concert events, one in New Haven, the other in Miami. The amount of time that Oliver Stone spends on these noisy, chaotic events is excessive. Some of that could have been edited out.

As with most Stone films, the cinematography in "The Doors" is excellent, and includes some early CGI. Val Kilmer is a great choice to play the part of Morrison. And Kathleen Quinlan is good as Patricia, the seductive witch. The film's images at the cemetery in Paris, together with Gothic background music, make for a haunting finale.

Stone's movie is not to be taken in a literal sense. Rather, it is suggestive of the complex mix of personal and cultural forces that interacted to create a pop culture legend. As a byproduct of this cinematic tribute, the viewer gets to see how the late 1960s really were, with the art deco, the hippie lingo, and all that hostility that existed in society. The film thus counters the political revisionism that later decades have assigned to that period. As such, "The Doors" complements and reinforces other films of that era which also "tell it like it really was": "Medium Cool", "Easy Rider", "Alice's Restaurant", and "Zabriskie Point", to name a few.

Despite a noisy, irksome second half, "The Doors" is an intriguing film about an intriguing historical figure. Mr. Mojo Risin's "style" may have died with the times. But Jim Morrison, himself, lives on ... as legend.