Saw this yesterday. I'm not much of a Val Kilmer fan but I like much of Mamet's work, so I went to see this. Kilmer is excellent, the script is tight and terse, leaving lots unsaid but with enough information to allow you to connect dots and draw inferences.

The first 80-or-so minutes are riveting. Then it starts to unravel. I don't think Mamet knew how to end it but, being Mamet, got away with it.

Those first 80 minutes, though, make the limp ending tolerable. Worth seeing.

FPW

Saw this yesterday. I'm not much of a Val Kilmer fan but I like much of Mamet's work, so I went to see this. Kilmer is excellent, the script is tight and terse, leaving lots unsaid but with enough information to allow you to connect dots and draw inferences.

The first 80-or-so minutes are riveting. Then it starts to unravel. I don't think Mamet knew how to end it but, being Mamet, got away with it.

Those first 80 minutes, though, make the limp ending tolerable. Worth seeing.

FPW

Thanks for the review. The last movie of Kilmer's that I saw was "The Saint" and I was disappointed. Now maybe I'll give him another chance.

Saw this yesterday. I'm not much of a Val Kilmer fan but I like much of Mamet's work, so I went to see this. Kilmer is excellent, the script is tight and terse, leaving lots unsaid but with enough information to allow you to connect dots and draw inferences.

The first 80-or-so minutes are riveting. Then it starts to unravel. I don't think Mamet knew how to end it but, being Mamet, got away with it.

Those first 80 minutes, though, make the limp ending tolerable. Worth seeing.

FPW

The only thing I ever liked Kilmer in was Top Gun, and that was because him and Rick Rosovich took their shirts off for a game of beach volleyball. Those few precious moments made watching his feeble attempts at acting worth it.
And what the hell was someone smoking when they cast him as Batman?
That's right up there with Ben Affleck as Jack Ryan.

He'd make an excellent rock. Yeah, cast him as a rock.

You are correct that Val Kilmer sucked as Batman, but I'm not sure how much of that was him and how much of it was a HORRIBLE script. "Let's get drive-thru" does not EVER belong in a Batman movie.

He was AWESOME in Tombstone, however. That was, IMHO, an Oscar-nomination worthy performance (that type of movie would never have been deemed worthy of consideration).

Val Kilmer was great in Willow.
And, Alec Baldwin was the best of the Jack Ryan's. They never should have given the role to either Harrison Ford or Ben Affleck.

Val Kilmer is a great actor who has done some shitty movies for the cash. I don't see him as Jack, but I could think of worse choices (like someone mentioned Ryan Phillippe--YIKES).

Lisa

You are correct that Val Kilmer sucked as Batman, but I'm not sure how much of that was him and how much of it was a HORRIBLE script. "Let's get drive-thru" does not EVER belong in a Batman movie.

He was AWESOME in Tombstone, however. That was, IMHO, an Oscar-nomination worthy performance (that type of movie would never have been deemed worthy of consideration).

Maybe I'm the only one, but I liked Val Kilmer as Batman. Clooney - now that was a mistake.

You are correct that Val Kilmer sucked as Batman, but I'm not sure how much of that was him and how much of it was a HORRIBLE script. "Let's get drive-thru" does not EVER belong in a Batman movie.

He was AWESOME in Tombstone, however. That was, IMHO, an Oscar-nomination worthy performance (that type of movie would never have been deemed worthy of consideration).

The only movies I've seen Val Kilmer in were Top Gun, and Tombstone. Both performances were good. Unfortunately, I know what the real "Doc" Holiday looked like, and Kilmer just didn't fit. Holiday was a skinny little gink with a huge moustache. Kinda looked like a rat peering over a hunk of rope.

I've got to ask. Why do people insist on whitewashing these Bozo's? "Doc Holiday was a psychopath, and Wyatt Earp -- when he couldn't take over a town as a "Law Man" -- was a pimp, an extortionist, and a world class liar.

Oh, well . . .

Ken V.

"Doc Holiday was a psychopath, and Wyatt Earp -- when he couldn't take over a town as a "Law Man" -- was a pimp, an extortionist, and a world class liar.

Oh, well . . .

Ken V.[/QUOTE]

No wonder he was such an effective politician, but politicians are whores, more than pimps.

I thought Clooney was much better than Kilmer as Batman (though that may have much to do with the script), but Keaton is still the Batman. We will have to wait to see how Christian Bale does in the role.

As for the iconized versions of Earp and Holiday. Those negative traits were brought out a little in Tombstone (in a sanitized way), but doesn't make for a good protagonist in a movie. That is more documentary material.