Tombstone
“Tombstone” is one of the few westerns out of the early 1990s to really make a lasting impression on audiences. Rewatching the film, I think the primary reason for the is the dynamic the film builds between Kurt Russell’s Wyatt Earp and Val Kilmer’s Doc Holliday. I’m not sure if anything else in the film merits the love heaped upon it.
The screenplay by Kevin Jarre takes a micro approach to Earp’s legendary life by focusing on his time in the mining town of Tombstone. We first see him get off the train and met by brothers Virgil (Sam Elliott) and Morgan (Bill Paxton), and they are going in to town in hopes of leaving rich through mining silver, although they also profit through gambling in the town, as well, which is where Wyatt finds Doc, whose Tuberculosis is pretty bad by this point. It’s not long that they’re in town before they find themselves going up against the violent Cowboys gang, led by “Curly Bill” Brocius (Powers Boothe). That focuses the film in a way that makes it endearing and entertaining by giving it a straight-line narrative to follow.
The most dominant factor of this film is the bond between Wyatt and Doc. There’s a romantic subplot with Josephine Marcus, an actress who comes into town and is played by Dana Delony, that plays into the film, but it is perfunctory and only in for further historical accuracy. The love between Wyatt and Josephine is third fiddle to the brotherhood of the Earp’s, with Russell, Elliott and Paxton nailing the dynamics between each brother, and Wyatt and Doc. Kilmer’s performance was rightly acclaimed, and probably should have been Oscar-nominated; the role gives him plenty of room for humor, but there’s genuine affection between he and Russell that is the beating heart of the film.
“Tombstone” is directed by George P. Cosmatos, and he’s a capable action director when it comes to the big set pieces, especially the fight at the OK Corral which marks a turning point for the Earp’s vs. the Cowboys gang. The actual fight lasted about 30 seconds, and Cosmatos doesn’t stretch it out much further, allowing it to pack a punch that will resonate through the remainder of the film, and the choices made along the way. This is a terrific, and packed, cast that also includes Michael Beihn, Michael Rooker, Thomas Haden Church, Charlton Heston, Jason Priestley, Stephen Lang and even a brief appearance by Billy Bob Thornton at the beginning. In the end, however, it all comes back to Russell and Kilmer, and they make one of the great screen examples of male friendships in movie history.
