A Documentary About...Um, I'm Not Sure Why

 

Of all the Hollywood biographical documentaries that could be produced, I would not put one about actor Val Kilmer high on the list.    Or put it on the list at all, for Pete's sake.   But it made the recent rounds to theaters and On Demand.   I was compelled enough to sample it.

Why?   I'm not quite sure.   Although it is pretty interesting for one basic reason.  Virtually all the footage is shot via home movie going back to the pre-VCR days.  It lends this bizarre intimate quality that actually makes it tough to look away.

Val Kilmer has, in my opinion, had a pretty nondescript career.   Worked steadily starting in the 80s but nothing too remarkable.   From Top Gun to Willow to Batman.   Indeed, he clearly wanted to be an actor since the days when he and his kid brothers shot their own version of Jaws in the family pool.   And he persistently wanted to do work that was not of the commercial nature which led him to crafting a stage one-man show as Mark Twain.

Still, his name is not the first one that comes to mind when you think of phenomenal actors.  I'm not sure that was the desired end result of this documentary, but it was with me.  Val Kilmer?  Okay, what's next?

Another curious aspect of this are the scenes where you visit with the current-day Val Kilmer.   Recently afflicted with throat cancer, Kilmer now rasps through one of those electronic speech gizmos in his neck.  As a result, his narration of his life is limited and, most of the film, his son stands in as the voice-over.  Meanwhile, the latter-day Kilmer is a bit of an eccentric slob who pretends to have a seizure while he is being filmed.

Whatever.

It's tough to review a movie that you expected nothing of and ultimately didn't end up with much more information than you started with.   Val Kilmer is an average actor trying to be great but never really was.   

There you have it.

LEN'S RATING:  Two-and-a-half stars.

Dinner last night:  Leftover spaghetti and meat balls.