very solid, well-executed western

Rating: 7/10 (5 March 2005)

Very well-written. I'm surprised that Kevin Jarre hasn't done too many movies, because his screenplay is very solid.
Excellent cast. Val Kilmer is extremely memorable as Doc Holiday, due to a great combination of acting and writing. I also enjoy Michael Biehn (Sarah Connor's original protector in the Terminator movies) as Johnny Ringo.
The only part of the movie that I felt was a little thin was the love story part. The scenes between Earp and Josephine Marcus (Dana Delany) felt a bit cheesy to me, and her character just struck me as being too full of herself. Also, the mental illness of Earp's wife isn't very well-explored.
So, the movie works very well as a masculine/violent fantasy of rugged individualism; the love scenes aren't great but they don't get in the way too much.