Not the story it should have been... but watchable

Rating: 7/10 (15 October 2005)

One thing you can say for Stone is that he knows how to make a good LOOKING movie. Unfortunately he plays so fast and loose with the truth that the end result is more a work of fiction rather than of history. Such is the case with "The Doors", a movie that any real Doors fan knows is only a caricature of the band's front-man, Jim Morrison.
Stone took the most sensational moments in Morrison's life and focused on it entirely, the end result being that he captured only a mere sliver of Morrison's true life and personality. While the film medium as a whole has never been as good as books when documenting someone's life or career, Stone's portrayal of Morrison unforgivably verges on fiction in its artistic license. Absent is the sensitive, intelligent person who many - including himself - considered a true poet, missing is the person who acknowledged the ridiculousness of his celebrity and sought to destroy it one glorious night in Miami, and equally missing is the source of the person who WAS James Douglas Morrison. As comedian Denis Leary once put it after seeing the movie, "Here I can sum it up for you - I'm a drunk, I'm a nobody, I'm a drunk, I'm famous, I'm a drunk, I'm dead!" Not exactly the best summation for a man whose cultural contributions to American music can still be felt 35 years after his death. Nice going, Oliver.
On the positive side the movie looks incredibly good, (most likely due to cinematographer Robert Richardson rather than Stone himself), and the viewer does come away with a feel for Morrison's charisma, stage presence, and mystical inclinations. Val Kilmer had deep shoes to fill and very convincingly does so - perhaps the only person on planet earth capable of bringing such a complicated character as Morrison to the screen. The rest of the cast also is well-placed, even though the characters on the screen were considerably different than who they were portraying. (Thanks again, Oliver.)
All in all, the movie is worth watching. If you're an intrigued first-timer being introduced to the music and legacy of The Doors from this movie, take it with a grain of salt and do yourself a favor - go out and get the biographies of former band members Ray Manzarek and John Densmore, then watch the live concert material available. You'll be glad you did.