The Doors (1991)

This review is part of the Meg and Michelle’s March Blogathon currently being held over at Pfeiffer Pfilms and Meg Movies.  Thanks to Paul for running such a great idea for a blogathon and letting me participate!

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“I believe in a long prolonged derangement of the senses to attain the unknown… Although I live in the subconscious, our pale reason hides the infinite from us. ” – Jim Morrison

Number of Times Seen – 1 (6 Mar 2016)

Brief Synopsis – Biopic of Jim Morrison, the lead singer of the hit band of the 1960’s The Doors from his early days in college thru his tragic death at the young age of 27.

My Take on it – I have always been a fan of Oliver Stone’s movies with JFK (1991) and Platoon (1986) being among my all-time favorite movies, but this one was not easy to get through.

I expected some eye opening storytelling here, but instead we get another less than mediocre biopic of a tragic music star who just couldn’t handle the limelight well enough and instead got too involved in the three pillars that were defining of the 60’s – sex, drugs and Rock n’ Roll.

We do get to see what became the roller coaster life of Morrison which had him relying too heavily on those three pillars of the 60’s which eventually led to his downfall.

Val Kilmer really doesn’t give us enough as Morrison and I can’t say his performance was in any way memorable.

Meg Ryan, on the other hand, gets a very high billing here but is missing in action through almost the entire film which leads one to think that perhaps she was just smart enough to stay away as much as she could.

The one thing this movie does have to offer is some excellent music from the 60’s.  It’s rumored that Kilmer’s singing made some of Morrison’s real life friends believe they were hearing their long lost friend.

Besides the music thou, this movie isn’t worth watching unless perhaps you have a legal prescription for Medical MJ.

Bottom Line – Despite some great music, this movie has little to offer us.  Stone tells the story of the Roller Coaster ride life of his idol Morrison, but there isn’t much “meat” for the viewer to absorb. Too many scenes involving the three foundations of the 60’s culture; sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll with very little coherent storytelling. Kilmer is not very memorable in the lead role and Ryan feels so left out it’s as if she purposely chose not to show up most days for filming her mediocre role.

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – Ray Manzarek turned down Stone’s many requests to help in the movie. Manzarek has since said that the movie is a horrible account of the history of the band. (From IMDB)

Rating – Razzie Worthy (4/10)