Wednesday, September 1, 2021

Val

Narrated by his son Jack Kilmer, Val takes a look at the life and career of Val Kilmer offering glimpses throughout his career with the self-shot footage Kilmer has collected for decades. The documentary also explores the personal side of Kilmer's life, his fight with throat cancer, and his current struggles doing what he can to keep his career alive through appearances at conventions. It's something to behold, and not always easy to watch.

Given the amount of footage and the film being framed by Kilmer's own words, read by his son, and the glimpse inside of his day-to-day life, we get quite an intimate take on the ups and downs of the actor's career. We see instances of the reputation earned for being hard to work with (such as his time on The Island of Dr. Moreau and why John Frankenheimer called the actor "impossible" to work with), and the Juilliard trained actor's struggles to find meaningful roles in Hollywood. Some of his films get larger mentions then others, but for any fan curious about Val Kilmer's life and often troubled career, Val provides an intriguing look into his world and the actor whose artistic nature caused him to often be his own worst enemy.

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