Film review: Tombstone (1993)

We had not seen this film before, but I was aware of it because I had seen this gif of Powers Boothe (who I knew as an incredibly evil bad guy in Deadwood) before, as it has, as you can imagine, wide application:

This film has a lot going for it besides that awesome moment and in general, is a very solid modern western, but somehow it's a bit disappointing.  Not because of its cast, which is packed to the rafters with familiar faces (usually sporting natty facial hair, in the case of the men at least): Kurt Russell is excellent as Wyatt Earp, Bill Paxton is his usual reliable self as Morgan Earp, and the impossibly-voiced Sam Elliot (who just has to wear his usual huge mustache) rounds out the Earps as Virgil.  But that's just the start.  Stephen "Avatar" Lang is the cowardly Ike Clanton, Thomas Hayden "Sideways" Church as his brother Billy, the ubiquitous Michael Rooker as a McMasters brother who starts out bad but comes over to the Earps in disgust at his side's dishonorable ways, Michael "Terminator" Biehn as Boothe's Curly Bill Brocius's right-hand pistoleer, Johnny Ringo

Billy "Titanic" Zane as the Shakespearean in a troop of actors who come to town, Charlton fucking Heston as just some farmer who shows up at the end, and Robert fucking Mitchum just as the voiceover!  But wait, there's more! From TV, there's Dana Delany (China Beach) as a free-spirited actress who wins Wyatt's heart, Terry "Lost" O'Quinn as the town mayor, an unrecognizable Jason "90210" Priestly as squirrelly deputy Billy Breckinridge and as Wyatt's laudanum-addicted current wife Maddie, an actress I swore I recognized, and it must be from the Seinfeld episode "The Doodle" where she (Dana Wheeler-Nicholson) plays Jerry's girlfriend-of-the-week. While some of the faces are hard to recognize behind the facial hair (and dirt/suntans in the case of Michael Biehn), it does get a little distracting.  And some of the TV stars, notably Dana Delany, probably should've stuck with TV.  But wait, I've left the best to last.  The character that everyone most remembers from this film is Doc Holliday, played in all his tubercular dandiness by Val Kilmer, in a performance that I can't help but think had some impact on Johnny Depp's Captain Jack:

Kilmer is a lot like Depp in that both are preternaturally beautiful (sidenote: doesn't he look a lot like Michael York in the above clip?) but clearly frustrated character actors who have trouble functioning in the world.  But Kilmer simply runs away and hides with this film, in much the same way that Heath Ledger steals The Dark Night.  Holliday is a loner whose waspy putdowns get him into trouble and drive away all but Wyatt, who seems to see through his walls, and as a result wins an ever-loyal friend.  He's an inveterate gambler, but more importantly, the fastest gun in the West.  (But wait, that's Johnny Ringo!  Or is it?)  Anyway, the plot isn't that important.  In outline, at least, it tracks the true story of the Gunfight at the OK Corral, although that occurs about halfway through the movie, and a lot of the main action happens afterwards, because the gang ("the Cowboys" - known by the red sashes they wear - no really!) whose members the Earp Brothers and Doc Holliday dispatch in that shootout, take their revenge and then in turn have to be systematically eliminated.  The city of Tombstone itself does rather take center stage, because the brothers are moving there to seek their fortunes after having become somewhat legendary lawmen in Kansas.  Initially retired, they are forced back into service (Virgil first, Morgan next, and Wyatt only very reluctantly) after Curly Bill shoots the town sheriff while in an opium fog.  Meanwhile, the County Sheriff, a very slick operator who moves in on Dana Delany while Wyatt tries to stay loyal to his junkie wife, is secretly in league with the Cowboys and happy to allow the Earps be wiped out (including their wives).  Probably the best scene is the be-giffed one above, where Johnny Ringo shows off his gun-handling skills in the casino that the Earps get a stake in (by driving out a local tough who was keeping all decent folks away) trying to provoke Doc.  Doc masterfully mocks him, as seen, but Ringo will get his showdown with Doc before the film ends, as you can imagine.  And probably the best thing about the film is Doc's flowery language.  He is particularly fond of floral imagery, calling several people "Daisy," and this is how he introduces himself when he shows up to the duel with Ringo (who is expecting Wyatt):

(Explanation here.) Talking it over with Jami afterwards, we couldn't quite put our finger on why it was vaguely unsatisfactory.  The main problem was that it didn't really build tension well.  Perhaps this is because the gunfight happens in the middle of the film and then you don't really know where the film's going to go after that.  But in general, the cinematography is just workmanlike.  You really gain an appreciation of what Sergio Leone does when you see what other people don't do.  (Although at least this film is an improvement on the director's most famous movie, which is Rambo...)