"I guess you could say we did our good deed for the day, Mayor"

Rating: 8/10 (7 August 2007)

Whether or not Wyatt Earp ever made such a statement, it sounds like something we'd expect from a full-fledged western legend: short and sweet, with a trace of modesty. While Kurt Russell was not the biggest star to ever play Wyatt (Such honors go to the likes of Henry Fonda, Burt Lancaster, Kevin Costner and James Garner and the quintessential TV portrayal by Hugh O'Brian), he does a decent job with the part and Val Kilmer heads an outstanding supporting cast. Many actors have played Doc Holliday on big and small screen, the earliest I can find on the IMDb website is Harvey Clark in LAW FOR TOMBSTONE (1937), while others have included Cesar Romero,Kirk Douglas, Victor Mature, both Dennis and Randy Quaid, even Willie Nelson and Adam West.Doc Holliday has always been my favorite among all the historic gunslingers of the Old West. Earp and Hickok may have been more of the white hat sort of hero, but Doc made no pretense about having redeeming qualities, except for one: he stood by his friend Wyatt when the chips were down. No lawman or cowboy could ask any more or expect any less from a true friend. Of all the portrayals of Doc, Kilmer's version is one of the best ever done for this complex man. His pathos and comic relief that he brings to his part turned this picture into an outstanding example of its genre. In real life, the western hero was never a totally William S. Hart/Hopalong Cassidy type of good guy, but a human being with flaws just like anybody else. In fact, sometimes the flaws that a western hero has to overcome make his character all the more extraordinary and entertaining, like the Duke does with his Ethan character in THE SEARCHERS. TOMBSTONE's not in a class with the classic all-time westerns, of which THE SEARCHERS is one, but it's a good tale of how a vicious outlaw gang gets its comeuppance from two of the greatest gunfighters who ever strapped on their shootin' irons to clean up their town. Dale Roloff