"Nothing to touch the earth, not to see the sun, nothing left to do but run, run, run, let's run."

Rating: 10/10 (26 April 2003)

This is just a sampling of the lyrics that singer/writer Jim Morrison contributed to his group The Doors, and just this, as part of his epic piece "The Celebration of the Lizard" shows his skill as a master of the written word. He is shown in Oliver Stone's The Doors as a shy, though often obnoxious and crude, persona who self describes himself in one scene: "I think of myself as a sensitive, intelligent human being, but with the soul of a clown that forces me to blow it at the most crucial of moments." He may have blown it in the end, but it makes for a fascinating story.
As being a Doors fan, the music and words are the best character of the movie- the songs represent feelings and emotions, desires and hatreds, and other facets of life in the late 60's, are indispensable gems of rock and blues. While the Doors recorded only six albums together (not counting American Prayer, Morrison's awesome feat of an album) each one is still transfixed into the minds of people all over the world. It's thirty-two years since the king died, but in another thirty-two he will still be remembered. And that is a fact that Stone plays with like Travis Bickle in front of the mirror with his guns in Taxi Driver. He reveals only Morrison's known persona, and not the quiet moments. The concert recreations are grand, but there isn't more of the sweet Jim (one glimpse of such a Jim is seen at a birthday party when he gives out gifts as "Chief Mojo Risin)
What is shown is splendid enough for his abilities- he paints a vivid picture of Los Angeles 1965 onward, with Val Kilmer in the second best acting job of 1991 (deserved of an Oscar nomination), and puts Jim in the middle. He is a man who is fascinated with death, with man's wills to power, and how life gets painful without the chemicals top open the mind. Kilmer gets so much into your head in this film that by the end you'll love him, hate him, or feel wonder about him. I felt wonder about him, wonder why he looked to heroes who gave him such ideas about the love of death, wonder why he felt the need to take it to the limits.
But his desires are Stone's as well, and while this isn't a perfect film, it's one that isn't easily forgotten. A+