‘Some of the worst mistakes of my life have been haircuts...’
Jim Morrison. Genius poet or drunken buffoon? I lean towards the latter although the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle. Oliver Stone’s early ’90s biopic can’t make its mind up either…
Charting the rise and fall of psychedelic rock heroes The Doors, made up of vocalist and songwriter Morrison (Val Kilmer), guitarist Robby Krieger (Frank Whaley), drummer John Densmore (Kevin Dillon) and keyboardist Ray Manzarek (Kyle MacLachlan) – the latter of whom was probably the real talent in the band, took the world by storm in the late ’60s before imploding in a storm of pretension, weight gain and drug addiction.
Stone doesn’t shy away from Morrison’s dark side, or his genius, and the result is a film that is compelling and captivating whilst also being wildly historically inaccurate by all accounts. Kilmer expertly plays both sides of the enigmatic Morrison coin, and the supporting cast does great work also. Meg Ryan is particularly effective as the lizard king’s muse Pamela Courson – bringing quiet dignity and humanity to a role that could easily have been just a shrieking nag.
Stone wisely sticks to the band’s biggest hits, ignoring their more tedious stuff, and it is the scenes set to music that have the most power. The lengthy live performances convey the internal chaos within the Doors for better or for worse and it is those scenes that make the lengthy two-hour-plus running time more bearable.
As someone who has never been a massive fan of the Doors, the lack of historical accuracy doesn’t really bother me. Whether this film rings true or not I don’t know, but I do know that it is entertaining and memorable. And with cinema, that’s all that matters.