Noted for his work as Batman, Jim Morrison and Doc Holliday, Val Kilmer, who died from pneumonia at 65 on Apr. 1, pushed the envelope with every role he played. We look at three of his druggiest films.
The Doors (1991)
Portraying Jim Morrison in this Oliver Stone biopic was Kilmer's breakout role. Just six movies into his career, Kilmer dove into the frontman character with particular relish.
He's in practically every scene, swigging whiskey and wobbling as he recites his poetry that would be the basis for the Doors' trippy organ-based music. As the band comes together in Los Angles in 1967, Morrison creates an origin story that involves his father dying in a car accident that killed an Indian man. That man, Morrison's fictional shaman Red Crow (Floyd Westerman), haunts him throughout the film.
He teams up with keyboardist Ray Manzarek (Kyle MacLachlan), guitarist Robbie Krieger (Paul Whaley) and John Densmore (Kevin Dillon). Krieger brings their greatest hit "Light My Fire" to the table. They perform it on The Ed Sullivan Show intact with the controversial lyric, "Girl, we couldn't get much higher," pissing off the network and host.
Morrison had a habit of pissing off everyone around him, starting with girlfriend Pamela Courson (Meg Ryan), who he openly cheats on with music journalist Patricia Kennealy (Kathleen Quinlin). Mostly into pot, acid and alcohol, she turns Morrison on to coke. "Sure, a new thing," he mumbles.
His discontent grows quickly, annoyed with record company demands and the band's desire to make money. When they sell the rights to "Light Me Fire" for a jingle, he has a shit fit. When Pam challenges him about Pat, he stomps on the holiday turkey.
Kilmer's so good in the role it's hard to tell where he begins and Morrison ends.
Jim's a sweet, sensitive guy who can't figure out who he wants to be be, and it's not a rock star. He prefers to be seen as a poet and gives each band member a copy of his book An American Prayer.
Morrison's insecurities spill out on stage during the Doors' concerts. At the famous New Haven show in 1968, he taunts police who stop the show and charge him with obscenity. That didn't deter Morrison who while raging drunk at the Miami show in 1969 threatens to whip it out.
It's a fantastic scene with Morrison/Kilmer whooping it up, dancing in circles around a bonfire with naked fans following him and the Indian shaman overseeing it all. This time he's hit with four charges, one for simulated masturbation.
Kilmer's so good in the role it's hard to tell where he begins and Morrison ends. Val sang about 70% of the lyrics with Jim's voice mixed in here and there. Like his portrayal of Doc Holliday in Tombstone two years later, Morrison was a stumbling drunk who didn't much care what people, or his bandmates, thought of him.
After recording the last Doors album L.A. Woman, Jim and Pam move to France. The music is over and he turns out the light.
Road manager Bill Siddons (Josh Evans) sees it coming. He'd worked with an alcoholic, Janis Joplin, before she died in 1970 at 27 years of age. "I won't go through that again," he says.
But he does, as Morrison, also at 27, dies from a reported heart attack in a bathtub in Paris.
Watch The Doors for free at Pluto TV
The Salton Sea (2002)
Eleven years after The Doors, Kilmer played a similar role in D.J. Caruso's druggy drama set in L.A.'s methamphetamine underbelly, what his character Danny Parker calls "the mad world of the tweaker." He lost his wife in a shootout and seeks revenge.
Danny and Jimmy the Finn (Peter Sarsgaard) identify meth ops for a couple of rogue cops. "I'm the perfect rat," Danny brags.
But it turns out those same cops are dirty and were responsible for Danny's wife's death. It takes most of the movie for him (and the audience) to figure that out.
Danny's actually a trumpeter named Tom Van Allen. In a nod to noir, the movie ends with Kilmer silhouetted in profile tooting a golden horn as the house behind him burns.
Watch The Salton Sea at Prime Video
Wonderland (2003)
Not many actors would accept the role of John Holmes, but that didn't stop Kilmer from portraying the infamous porn star in James Fox's drug-crime thriller. By the '80s, Holmes had descended into a life of hard drug use in Los Angeles. His foot-long member opened many doors, including those of dealers Ron Launius (John Lucas) and Eddie Nash (Eric Bogosian).
Holmes and Launius decide to take down Nash (a.k.a. The Arab), When four dead bodies are found in his Wonderland Ave. house, Holmes claims he had nothing to do with it. But he did, drawing a map and leaving a door ajar for Launius and his dudes to get in.
Kilmer had a way of making bad people look good. With his mop of hair, beard and convincing smile as Holmes, he had a knack for persuading loved ones and even the police that everyone else was responsible for his questionable behavior. Holmes' teenaged girlfriend Dawn (Kate Bosworth) is exhibit number one. Despite leaving her for days in a hotel room while on a cocaine bender, she clings to him. Kilmer was one with the role, as he was with Morrison, Danny Parker, Doc Holliday, Batman and many others during his memorable 40-year acting career.
Watch Wonderland for free a Plex
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