The Doors (1991)

 The Doors (1991)

If you spoke to any hard-enthused hipster from the 1960’s, you would learn what a legend Jim Morrison, the frontman of the rock’n’roll band The Doors, was. He was known for his onstage antics and he lived the life of the pill and the bottle until his untimely death at the age of 27. He left behind an amazing catalog of songs that people still listen to today. “The End” is an incredible rock song that became meaningful to me. For a long, long time, people have been trying to capitalize on this myth. Enter Oliver Stone, the man behind the hard-hitting Platoon and Born on the Fourth of July. Stone, for a long time, tried to make a biographical film about Morrison. I can’t say I was particularly pleased with the final film. Stone indulges in Morrison’s dark side for the entire time and makes him seem to be some crazy loon. Val Kilmer himself is electrifying as Morrison. He looks like and even sounds like Morrison. Unfortunately, he was let down by a shallow script, written by Stone himself. The surviving band members respected and even adored Kilmer’s performance. Yet most of them criticized Stone’s direction but none other than keyboardist Ray Manzarek who refused to even speak to Kilmer to help with the preparation. Many scenes that had Jim Morrison at his worst were exaggerated or even completely fabricated. That certainly angered the bandmates whom some even vouched for Stone to direct this film. While I may have no personal feelings towards Morrison in one way or another, the script is a disappointment. Thankfully, Kilmer does his best to pick up the slack. 

In order to get the film in production, Stone had to get through lots of legal mumble jumble with the rights. For example, the parents of Pamela Courson (Jim’s girlfriend) would not allow Stone to include Jim’s poetry unless the director agreed not to blame Courson for Jim’s eventual death. In reality, Courson is believed to have given the drugs that killed him to the man and she blamed herself. Within the bandmates themselves, there were conflicting views. Manzarek was ready to immortalize the band’s accomplishments…but not with Stone at the helm. Conversely, guitarist Bobby Krieger did not want a biopic…unless Stone was directing. The subject was a hot commodity given that Scorsese and De Palma tried to get the rights to direct, but Stone won the day as he also crafted the script alongside Randall Johnson. I already said the script took certain (or many) liberties, but at least Stone kept the film visually interesting. The trip to the Mojave Desert is straight psychedelic. The concert scenes are visually (although not historically accurate) impressive. 

Ray Manzarek (Kyle MacLachlan) and Jim Morrison (Val Kilmer) met at UCLA in 1965 and decided to form a rock band. With the additions of Bobby Krieger (Frank Whaley) and John Densmore (Kevin Dillon), the band known as The Doors formed. Jim became known for his controversial lyrics and his onstage hysterics, yet was undoubtedly charismatic despite an exorbitant amount of drug and alcohol use. Soon enough, the band is wondering what is happening to Jim. Jim is very popular with the general public but always had run-ins with the law. Sticking by Jim’s side is his long-time girlfriend, Pamela Courson (Meg Ryan). But being a rock star, he indulges in a drug-induced affair with a reporter named Patricia Kennealy (Kathleen Quinlan). 

Even though the script does not portray Jim Morrison in a positive light, you cannot deny how electric Val Kilmer’s performance is. He spent hours and days learning 50 songs from the band although only 15 songs were used. He sang over Morrison’s voice and the results were unreal. Not even the band was able to tell him apart. Meg Ryan is normally known for her lighter fare but I think she did a decent job tackling the juicy Pamela Courson role. You could probably call the film “Jim Morrison” and the title would stick because of how limited the screen time was for the band members. The respective actors did make their characters believable at least. 

Overall, The Doors could have been much better if someone did not allow Oliver Stone to get swept away in his indulgences. I like most Stone films, but this is certainly a disappointment especially given Val Kilmer’s commitment. Still, he visually made the film interesting. Kilmer is, by far, the best part of the movie. Playing a man like Jim Morrison who is nearly mythical is not an easy task. Listening to him belt out “Light My Fire” proves he was up for the mission. I wish Oliver Stone was. 

My Grade: C