Review of Wyatt Earp (1994) by Jj M — 29 Oct 2012

Lawrence Kasdan is one of my favorite film makers of all time (scoring extra points for writing/directing one of my favorite films of all time, "Silverado", as well as being a credited writer on "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "The Empire Strikes Back") and he does an admirable job of recreating the truest version of the history of Wyatt Earp ever put into movie theaters. The only problem is that the film skims over so much detail in quick progression that we are left wondering if the story would have been better told as an HBO-miniseries.

The fun with westerns and Hollywood is that so many liberties have been taken with the accounts of Wyatt Earp and the infamous 'Gunfight at the O.K. Corral' that Earp and Doc Holliday (in particular) have been elevated to legendary status beyond the actions they were actually involved in. Where "Wyatt Earp" succeeds (and in some ways, ultimately fails) is in making so many of the details true to history that we are left with a film that has been drained of a little of the fun that films like "Tombstone" were so fruitful with.

In the end, what we are left with is a well-acted and properly dramatic take on tidbits of the life of arguably the Old West's greatest lawman.

*The final gunfight with Johnny Ringo and his outlaws in the ravine was rather historically accurate. Wyatt Earp's coat, as examined after the gun battle, was riddled with bullet holes. Not one bullet ever pierced his body - not in that fight, and not in any fight in his lifetime.