Stone's Beautiful Tribute Succeeds All The Way

Rating: 10/10 (16 April 2004)

Only Oliver Stone could manage to make a 140 minute bio-drama about this band and make it work. He and cinematographer Robert Richardson make this a wonderful, tripped-out experience that never leaves reality behind (I'm speaking of drama, not facts) and never lets nostalgia overcome the story. Of course I'll give credit where it's due, Val Kilmer gives what is probably his best performance in the role of the one and only Jim Morrison.
The film opens with a depiction of that famous event from Morrison's childhood, when he saw the Indian die, setting the viewer up for the semi-legendary tone of this film. Stone clearly has a reverence for the time and the man. From there we follow Morrison from being misunderstood in film-school through his life and love and years with The Doors, to his death in Paris. Along the way, Oliver Stone works another miracle: he prevents Meg Ryan from ruining the film with that irritating "cuteness" that's left so many others in flames. Ryan is forced into the non-cute position of Morrison's lover and "muse" who suffers endlessly at his fame and drug abuse. One of my favorite scenes has Kilmer dangling out a window asking Ryan if she'd die for him.
The soundtrack is almost entirely Doors songs, many of which are performed (very well) by Kilmer. The supporting cast features an unrecognizable Kyle MacLachlan in a good turn as another member of The Doors. As with many Stone films, fact and fiction are blended together to tell the story, but it doesn't detract at all from the worth of this film. What the viewer gets is an emotionally active look at the short life and career of Jim Morrison. The performances are good, Stone's script and direction are in good form, and the photography and editing elevate the film to a higher level of cinema.
THE DOORS is a must see picture. Never before or since has there been a celebrity biography to succeed so thoroughly as a drama and as a film. Reggie can't get enough of this!