Much to admire - the stunning production design, the care that went into a lot of it, Val Kilmer's perfect performance, the strength of the cast (down to minor roles), the fact it is stuffed wall to wall with Doors music and Morrison poetry. This cost a bomb but the production values are on screen - Venice Beach, UCLA film classes, concert footage, planes.
But it's a hard slog. Stone had a vision - to show Morrison's journey on the doors - but it's not a very interesting journey. He starts off strange, talented, and charismatic, then just drinks and takes drugs and drinks and takes drugs and becomes dull to hang around.
Sure, the judge's ruling in the obscenity trial was harsh but Morrison as shown here should have spent time inside for a bunch of reasons - being abusive to his women, brawling, being a f*ckwit basically.
Maybe Morrison simply doesn't work as a lead character - he's better as a support. The film would probably have been better off being told through the eyes of John Densmore or Pam Coulson.
Meg Ryan is miscast as Coulson - it doesn't matter as much straight up but later on when she gets on heroin and the relationship becomes a Days of Wine and Roses thing... I didn't buy it. Her acting was fine, it's just a matter of persona - maybe Meg Ryan is wild in real life but she doesn't seem like it, and I struggled.
In her defence the film is thrown out of whack by giving such a big role to Kathleen Quinlan as Morrison's wiccan lover. Quinlan is very good in the part - more comfortably cast than Ryan - but the prominence to her role sort of throws the movie. Her character is much better defined - she has a career, an inner life (witch), more agency... she overtakes Ryans' character. (Aside: Quinlan was in Apollo 13 and I had fun imagining her astronaut's wife character in that movie having this secret other life where she ran around topless snorting coke, drinking blood and having sex with rock stars).
A lot of this was repetitive. Two scenes where Morrison couldn't get it up. Three out of control concerts. Endless drug taking and parties.
What was the point? Was there a theme? That Morrison was... crazy? Lost his way? I was confused.
The film is full of pleasures and is great to see on the big screen. It just goes too long and feels hopelessly unfocused.
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