Fun, Unpretentious Western

Rating: 8/10 (1 May 2006)

The story of Wyatt Earp has been told innumerable times in cinema. In the old days, Earp, the marshal who tamed Dodge City, Abilene, and Tombstone, among others, always represented the good and virtuous lawman who defended the downtrodden and was quick on the draw - in short, the archetypal Western hero - accompanied by the drunken, philosophical, tubercular Doc Holliday, and his brothers Virgil and Morgan. Every movie about the Earps seem to center (and with some good reason) on their conflicts in Tombstone with the Cowboys, a gang of vicious cutthroats led by the Clantons, McLoweries, Curly Bill Brocious, Johnny Ringo, and a bunch of others, which resulted in the mythic gunfight at the OK Corral and the lesser-known series of vendettas which left one Earp and most of the above outlaws dead. In 1993/4, both "Tombstone" and "Wyatt Earp" would present this traditional hero in a darker, more critical light, changing from a heroic superman to a flawed man who more often than not was a cold-blooded murderer.
The point is, this story's been done to death. There isn't really much you can add to a story that's been filmed dozens of times, or a character that has been played by Randolph Scott, Henry Fonda, James Stewart, James Garner, Burt Lancaster, and many, many others. So, the creators of "Tombstone" and "Wyatt Earp" deserve credit for trying to take this oft-told legend in different directions. It's a shame that the two films had to be released almost simultaneously, resulting in inevitable comparisons.
"Tombstone" is easily the more accessible of the two. While "Wyatt Earp" tries to be an epic a la "How The West Was Won" and "Once Upon A Time In The West", showing Earp's entire life, "Tombstone" is a simple, unpretentious action Western full of slam-bang shootouts and loads of clichés. It's hard to say that either film is really better than the other, as they are two different types of film altogether, but "Tombstone" is easily the more enjoyable.
The movie centers on the Earps' troubles in Tombstone and after. The movie at times seems a very simplistic black-versus-white movie, with sneeringly evil baddies as personified by Powers Boothe (Curly Bill), Stephen Lang (Ike Clanton), and Michael Biehn (Johnny Ringo), while the Earps - Wyatt (Kurt Russell), Morgan (Bill Paxton), and Virgil (the always-great Sam Elliot), plus Doc (Val Kilmer) - are the good guys, albeit with a tainted past. No sooner do the Earps come into town then trouble starts. The villains are sneeringly evil caricatures, the Earps paragons of virtue. If you don't like old-fashioned Westerns, then the first hour might make you sick - particularly Wyatt's extramarital affair with the lovely actress Josephine (Dana Delaney).
However, the second half of the film does show Wyatt in a darker light; after Morgan is assassinated and Virgil wounded by the Cowboys, Wyatt and Doc are deputized by the US Marshal, and a long with a few others go on a vicious rampage from which no one is safe. This sequence of the film is by far the most effective; an exciting montage of action ranging from shootouts to just plain murders.
The movie isn't exactly a deep film; it's very highly stylized and does have its moments of overt corniness (the slow-motion "No!" before Wyatt blasts Curly Bill, for instance). However, I don't really think that should be held against it. If you want depth in a film, don't come here.
I do think that Kurt Russell has to be on the lower-tier of screen Earps. Despite physical resemblance, Russell never really convinces as the tough guy Earp was, and at times even comes across as a loser. On the other hand, Paxton and the always-reliable Elliot pick up the slack, though Val Kilmer's brilliant turn as Doc steals the show. I won't add any more to the sea of compliments on Kilmer's performance, except to say that he really DOES look like he was dying of TB. Boothe, Lang, and Biehn scarf up the scenery and are a joy to watch while they're doing it. The supporting cast interestingly includes some soon-to-be-famous stars - Billy Zane, Terry O'Quinn, Billy Bob Thornton - in solid roles, and cameos by Western veterans Buck Taylor, Harry Carey Jr., and the legendary Charlton Heston add some class to the proceedings. The woman characters, unfortunately, are mostly caricatures. I wanted to like Dana Delaney as Josie, but her character was poor - don't know if it was the performance or the screenplay, but either way, I didn't really care for her.
I give "Tombstone" an eight - instead of a seven - because, unlike the similar "Silverado", it didn't pretend to be anything more than it was - a fun action Western with an edge. There were many flaws, and it will never be featured on any "Best Movies of All Time" lists, but it's still a solid movie, much like "The Untouchables". Kevin Costner was the better Earp of 1993/4, but "Tombstone" is probably the better film.
Eight stars.