"Tombstone": review

L-R: Val Kilmer (Doc Holliday), Sam Elliott (Virgil Earp), Bill Paxton (Morgan Earp), and Kurt Russell (Wyatt Earp)

"Tombstone" is a 1993 Western directed by George P. Cosmatos* and boasting a huge ensemble cast of familiar names: Kurt Russell, Val Kilmer, Sam Elliott, Bill Paxton, Powers Boothe, Michael Biehn, Charlton Heston, Jason Priestley, Stephen Lang, Thomas Haden Church, Dana Delany, Michael Rooker, Billy Bob Thornton, Frank Stallone, Billy Zane, John Corbett, and Robert Mitchum as the sleepy-voiced narrator. I had seen the movie at my buddy Mike's place, and at the time—maybe because I was tired—the film felt a bit distant and disjointed, so I decided to watch the movie again since I'd purchased it on Apple TV a while back, and it had been sitting on my queue. Mike's generously proportioned big-screen TV had been set to "motion/image interpolation," which produces something informally called the "soap-opera effect," in which a movie's image looks almost videotaped, not filmed. I guess it's something you can get used to if you watch it long enough, but the effect tends to take me out of a movie, which is another reason why I'd wanted to rewatch "Tombstone"—to give it a fair shake. Sure enough, tonight's rewatch led to my finding the movie more sensible and engaging. It had initially struck me as kind of choppy and disjointed and even, at times, a little corny. After the second viewing, though, most of those problems disappeared.

The story of "Tombstone" focuses primarily on Old West lawman Wyatt Earp (Russell), now retired and hoping to settle in Arizona with his older brother Virgil (Elliott) and his younger brother Morgan (Paxton), plus all of their respective wives—Mattie (Dana Wheeler-Nicholson), Allie (Paula Malcomson), and Louisa (Lisa Collins). Mattie has been developing an addiction to laudanum, a derivative of opium. She claims she uses the medicine "for headaches," but her need for the drug has been causing friction in her marriage to Wyatt. The moment Wyatt arrives by train in Tucson, Arizona on his way to Tombstone, he is set upon by people who want him to resume his law-enforcement ways because of so much lawlessness, especially the chaos being caused by a gang of red-sash-wearing criminals called The Cowboys, led by "Curly Bill" Brocius (Boothe) and accompanied by Johnny Ringo (Biehn), Ike Clanton (Lang), and Billy Clanton (Church). Curly Bill has a reputation for being loud and drunk; Johnny Ringo is an educated fellow with a hair-trigger temper, and the Clanton brothers are obnoxious ne'er-do-wells always keen to get in fights.

We first meet The Cowboys right at the beginning of the story, shooting up the wedding of a Mexican police officer who, along with his colleagues, had recently killed two Cowboys. The gang is in Tombstone when the Earp family arrives; Wyatt and his brothers at first try to stay out of the law-enforcement business, but it becomes obvious that The Cowboys will need to be dealt with. Also currently hanging out in Tombstone is Wyatt's good friend Doc Holliday (Kilmer), a man afflicted with advanced tuberculosis and looking to preserve his lungs in the dry Arizona climate. Often looking wan and sweaty, Holliday is derided by The Cowboys as a "lunger" given their awareness of his condition. Despite his sickness, though, Holliday remains a deadly gunfighter, and he is loyal to his old friend Wyatt. The rest of the movie is about the developing tensions between The Cowboys and the Earps, who eventually are goaded back into wearing badges to take care of business. An important side plot involves the arrival of two stage performers, Mr. Fabian the actor (Zane) and Josephine Marcus the actress/singer (Delaney). Josie and Wyatt see each other and are immediately attracted, this despite Wyatt's being married, so a lot of the plot revolves around the question of how virtuous Wyatt and Josie can remain despite their obvious magnetic pull toward each other.

"Tombstone" is an interesting mix of a slow-burn plot and quick action sequences. As the Earps and The Cowboys circle each other, the conflict eventually escalates to the famous shootout at the OK Corral and, later, to Earp's "Vendetta Ride," in which Wyatt and his deputies decide to clean house and rid the world of The Cowboys forever. It was probably a good thing that I knew so little of the actual history; this upped the suspense whenever a main character would die. While it's not immediately obvious what the movie's central theme might be, I'm now convinced, after two viewings, that the essential focus is on the deep friendship between Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday. Most critics agree that Val Kilmer's performance as Holliday is a scene-stealer, and I can affirm that Holliday gets most or all of the film's best lines. The film's cinematography, as is true of many Westerns, is gorgeous and evocative, offering us sumptuous views of the 1880s Old West. Many of the movie's cameos had me going, "Hey! That's..." as people like Billy Bob Thornton or Thomas Haden Church or Charlton Heston suddenly appeared.

The movie also has its share of flaws. The disadvantage of having a notable cast of thousands is that the character development is spread a bit thin, but the Earps and the main members of The Cowboys are fleshed out quite well. I have no idea whether the real-life Mattie Blaylock was as selfish and unpleasant as the movie made her out to be, but I can say that I didn't have much respect for Wyatt when he fell instantly in love with Josie upon seeing her, whatever his marital problems. The movie's soundtrack wasn't that memorable; composer Bruce Broughton is no John Barry when it comes to evoking expansive landscapes, the big sky, or interpersonal conflict. You'll recall that I mentioned, earlier, that some moments in the film were corny. These would include many of the times that Wyatt and Josie would make doe eyes at each other, and one cringe-inducing scene during the Vendetta Ride in which Wyatt Earp repeatedly says "No!" while gunning enemies down.

But the movie had a coherent plot laced with themes like brotherhood, justice, revenge, forbidden love, and especially friendship as a dying Doc Holliday repeatedly proves his willingness to stand by, and to stand up for, his friend Wyatt Earp. To me, this friendship is what makes the movie; Val Kilmer and Kurt Russell have a palpable chemistry. Now that I've had a chance to watch "Tombstone" twice, I can heartily recommend it to those who've never seen it. This isn't my favorite modern Western; it doesn't rank as high in my book as films like "Unforgiven" and even "Silverado" (the latter having been directed by Lawrence Kasdan, who also directed "Wyatt Earp," which came out the year after "Tombstone" did), but even if "Tombstone" isn't part of that pantheon, it's still definitely worth a watch. I'm not one of these people, but many consider "Tombstone" a classic. You might, too.

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*Kurt Russell, with support from Val Kilmer, has suggested that Cosmatos had been brought in—after screenwriter Kevin Jarre had been fired as director—merely as a token name, a "ghost director," while it was essentially Russell who had truly directed the movie. Michael Biehn, however, has denied that Russell ever directed any Johnny Ringo scenes.