Review of The Doors (1991) by Andrew M — 11 Jul 2016

There's a lot to like about Oliver Stone's take on the story of the formation of legendary rock band The Doors, notably the life of frontman Jim Morrison. Far and away the most impressive aspect of The Doors is Val Kilmer's portrayal of Morrison: there are always claims of actors and actresses embodying their characters, and Kilmer truly does just that. Between his eerily similar physical resemblance, his haunting portrayal of Morrison's rebellious personality and his rise and fall, and his stunning vocal similarity (original recordings of Morrison are occasionally mixed with Kilmer's vocals, but the rest are all Kilmer), it's no exaggeration to say that Kilmer is not playing Morrison: for 140 minutes, Val Kilmer truly is Jim Morrison. Oliver Stone directs the film with an appropriate surreal nature that, naturally, emulates the psychedelic drug-fueled culture of 1960s Los Angeles: scenes where the film slips into a drug induced, dreamlike state are shot quite nicely.

This filming style ultimately hurts the film in the long run though. While Morrison was certainly influenced by drugs and had a strong fascination with spirituality and death, so much of the film's dialogue comes off as senseless rambling, often to the point that the film slows to a screeching halt. The film as a whole suffers from this quite often: simply put, this is not a story that necessitates a 140 minute runtime. Such a long runtime results in what seems like the same scenes being repeated multiple times: Morrison's instability leads to problems at a performance, he is scolded by band mates or managers or girlfriends, rinse and repeat at least three times. Aside from trimming down the runtime, perhaps a greater focus on Morrison's fellow band members, or even a more in-depth look at Morrison and his worldview outside of his media circus of sorts, would result in a narrative that flows more smoothly and stays consistently engaging.

If you're willing to put aside some historical inaccuracies regarding the portrayal of Morrison as a person, any fan of The Doors shouldn't miss this film. The runtime drags every so often and the direction occasionally leads to some incoherency, but this is worth watching purely for Val Kilmer's portrayal of Jim Morrison. There's truly no words to describe how good he is.