Review of Wyatt Earp (1994) by Archduke P — 17 Nov 2007

Having recently read Casey Tefertiller's excellent, exhaustive biography of Wyatt Earp, I thought I'd revist a couple of the flicks I'd seen previously to see how well they stacked up to the actual history.

As a Western epic, this one is excellent. As an accurate biopic, much of this is a load of hooey. What was fascinating about Earp was that up until the legendary gunfight (which didn't actually occur at the O.

K. Corral), Earp had never shot a man. Had in fact settled all disputes with his fists or the butt of his gun. Which would have made the events of the O.K. Corral and after that much more powerful, as Earp went from being deputy marshal to being a deadly vigilante.

Having said all that, while a lot leading up to the gunfight is not particularly accurate, the scene of the shootout itself is actually almost exactly as it was purported to have happened. Everything after is more or less similar to the actual events, though truncated and twisted out of order in some cases.

What the movie completely nails, though, is the characterization. Kevin Costner is the quintissential Wyatt Earp, both in look and demeanor. While I've always considered Costner to be a decent performer, he's not a particularly great actor, with a pretty flat affect in most of his roles.

Here that suits him well, as Earp himself was a pretty unflappable guy. And while I loved Val Kilmer's portrayal of Doc Holliday in "Tombstone", Dennis Quaid's performance is likely much closer to the real former dentist and tubercular gambler, much more volatile and puckish compared to Kilmer's cool, calculated performance.

All in all, a great, entertaining Western. Just take the history lesson with a grain of salt.