A Fine Western

Rating: 8/10 (21 April 2000)

"Tombstone" takes liberties with history but does a good job of depicting human emotion. Among a uniformly good cast, Kurt Russell as Wyat Earp and Val Kilmer as Doc Holiday are particularly excellent. In fact, I believe that Kilmer's antic Holiday was the best performance, among many fine performances, of his career. The film's descriptions of how the men died who were thought to have been responsible for the death of Morgan Earp and the maiming of Virgil Earp are uniformly ludicrous but, what the heck, this is Hollywood. The images are stunning and the action and excitement don't let up. Look for an early performance by a younger and heavier Billy Bob Thornton as a casino bully.