Val makes it a masterpiece

Rating: 10/10 (9 February 2008)

This is one of the best westerns ever made, and one of the best movies ever made. What makes it one of the best is VAL KILMER. Without him, it would've been a good one, but with him, it is a masterpiece. Doc Holliday himself was sure bigger than life. And Val is bigger than him, and much bigger than life. Not giving him the Academy Award he unquestionably deserved here is more than a mistake, it's a wrongdoing. I am certainly one of the many who would never forgive the Academy for that. This usually-underrated suprastandard master should be given his value and respect. And he should be in such exceptional themes more, no matter "leading" or "supporting". He leads even when he supports. He enhances, and he makes it prime. As a movie critic of decades, if I'm asked the best three performances (leading/supporting) in the history of cinema, I would admittedly take my time to choose the second and the third, but I would say the first without thinking a second: VAL KILMER's DOC HOLLIDAY. He just diffuses the whole movie into your bloodstream. He makes you love watching it and keeping it in your memory forever.