Oliver Stone's "The Doors" starring Val Kilmer as Jim Morrison, lives up to the iconic band's best hits.
Although critic Roger Ebert only gave it a 2 1/2 out of 4 stars, this movie was a hit with audiences. Arguably Kilmer's best performance in his career, he auditioned for Stone by sending tapes of him singing The Doors tunes. Kilmer’s tapes consisted of him playing Morrison in several eras of Morrison’s career. He spent several months rehearsing The Doors' songs every day and learned over 40 of them by heart. Kilmer studied about Morrison with Paul Rothchild, the producer of The Doors and hung out with Krieger and Densmore. This all helped in his depiction of Morrison and his downward plight into addiction with drugs and alcohol. Several other actors were considered for the role including Johnny Depp, Tom Cruise, John Travolta, Richard Gere, Bono and Michael Hutchence. In addition Stone initially liked Ian Astbury of The Cult but he turned down the role because he disliked the way Morrison was characterized in the film. In the end, members of The Doors are said to have actually not known which tracks in the film were sung by Kilmer and which were originals sung by Morrison. Meg Ryan plays Pamela Courson, Morrison's love interest who goes in and out of his life depending on the drug trip he is on. Supporting characters include Kyle MacLachlan as Ray Manzarek, Frank Whaley as Robby Krieger, Kevin Dillon as John Densmore and Kathleen Quinlan as a satanic worshiper who helps Morrison get his virility back.
The movie travels like a drug trip and the audience takes the journey as a member inside the famous band. Definitely a classic for any Doors fan.
