Surrealistic Retelling of the Old West !

Rating: 8/10 (1 December 2004)

If you believe in fate, and Hollywoods endings that are completely detached from reality, then this feature is for you ! Kurt Russell shines as Wyatt Earp, retired law enforcement officers, with brothers Virgil(Sam Elliot) and Morgan(Bill Paxton). The gunfight at the OK Corral is dispatched midway of the movie, and then the real story begins.The Earp brothers relocate to Tombstone,AZ. This is where they encounter the "Cowboys" based on a real life group of thugs, they don't seem to like each other. So , after throwing a chubby faced Billy Bob Thornton out of a local gaming facility, Wyatt decides to run the establishment. "Doc" Holiday (Val Kilmer) steals the show as the sickly killer, with a sympathetic following. Wyatts ailing wife played by Dana Wheeler-Erickson, is a crutch to Wyatt, whose ambitions outweigh his sense of right and wrong. Enter Dana Delany , how convenient, another portal for Wyatt to take comfort in. As a matter of fact, the movie always has an answer for every situation! But the redeeming factors are the even pace, magnificent cinematography, and excellent acting ! Look for Jason Priestly in a throwaway role, and Charlton Heston in a cameo as a rancher. The movies basic philosophy is that might makes right !
So if you are ready to suspend reality, a lot of killing , especially toward the end of the movie, and an unreal dance in the snow, by all means take the afternoon off, and see "Tombstone", not a great movie, but enjoyable fare with a Hollywood ending ! I give it a 7.5 for overall effort!