The Doors (Review)
Wednesday, 27th April 2011, 10:05

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It doesn't feel that long ago that I reviewed When You're Strange, the fascinating documentary on The Doors and the first film that really told me about the band dynamics, how they wrote their songs and Jim Morrison's personality cult. I had previously seen Oliver Stone's film The Doors and it didn't mean much to me because I knew nothing about the band. With this now being released on Blu-ray, I decided to revisit it armed with some background knowledge to see if this would help me appreciate the film more. The timing of this release seems quite appropriate as 2011 marks the 40th anniversary of Jim Morrison's death so there is a retrospective element to the film as The Doors’ music is still instantly recognisable yet Jim Morrison remains something of an enigma

To completely tell the story of how one band formed, became famous, sold millions of albums, became famous around the world and then largely disappeared in 140 minutes is extremely ambitious, but that's what Oliver Stone (and his writing partner Randall Johnson) set out to do. This biopic begins at UCLA film School where the class and the lecturer are watching Jim Morrison's student film, a rambling non-linear black-and-white piece filled with poetry and images of Nazi rallies. When Morrison is asked to explain the film, he simply says "I quit" and walks out, a fellow student of his, Ray Manzarek, liked the film and catches up with Morrison on the beach who, after reading widely and experimenting with LSD, has began to write songs even though he says he can't sing.

The film largely glosses over how the band were formed and how Morrison and Manzarek were joined by Bobby Krieger and John Densmore, why they played with an organist instead of a bass player but does move quickly on to that awkward moment in every musical biopic when the director has to introduce the band finding that one hook, lyric or melody that the audience will instantly recognise. In this case, it shows the band practising when Robbie Krieger says that he's written some lyrics and begins playing his guitar while singing the opening few lines off Light My Fire. This then proceeds to having the band playing with Morrison singing the lyrics but saying that it needs something else, such as an introduction. Then, with Morrison, Krieger and Densmore heading out on to the beach, Manzarek calls them back in and plays the familiar organ introduction to one of the biggest hits from The Doors’ first album.

In terms of biopics introducing a song with which the audience are familiar, this is probably the most contrived and awkward of any film with the best probably being The Buddy Holly Story. In any case, this allows for a dissolve to the band playing live and then, as they become increasingly popular, other songs such as The End, Break on Through and People Are Strange.

The Doors follows the band's rise to fame and fortune and Jim Morrison's increasing drug and alcohol use, his fractious relationship with his girlfriend, Pamela Courson and their descent from one of the biggest bands on Earth to one that is booed by the crowd before Morrison's obscenity trial, his self-imposed exile in France and his death. Morrison's grave in Paris has become something of a tourist attraction and a shrine for Doors fans from around the world – I watched Julie Delpy’s film 2 Days in Paris not so long ago and her American friend Jack insists on visiting the cemetery.

Because of his astonishing rise to fame and early death, Jim Morrison has become a musical icon and it really must have been a daunting task for Val Kilmer when charged with portraying such a legendary figure. Kilmer proves himself equal to the task by putting in a career-best performance with his acting and singing and there are several occasions when you hear a song by The Doors and assume it's them playing and Jim Morrison singing but Val Kilmer did just about all of the vocals (many of the songs mixed Jim Morrison's voice with Val Kilmer's) and it is a terrific performance. Sadly, the same can't be said for Oliver Stone's writing and direction which is baggy and with woeful pacing so that, even though the film is only 140 minutes long, it feels almost like a three-hour film with many scenes that are just overly long.

Some of the film is extremely well directed and has the same visual flair that Stone employed in Natural Born Killers but this occasionally becomes a little bogged down in symbolism, such as when the LSD trips and Morrison's 'meditation' is depicted by people in the desert. However, his re-creation of real events, such as The Doors’ infamous appearance on the Ed Sullivan show in which Morrison refused to toe the line and said the line "... get much higher" even when instructed not to by the network executives shows the panic and anger that was going on behind-the-scenes extremely well.

Although this is principally a film about Jim Morrison with Val Kilmer's performance naturally becoming the centre of attention, he is well supported by Meg Ryan as Pamela, Kyle McLaughlan as Ray Manzarek and Kevin Dillon as John Densmore. All in all, this is an ambitious project that fails to live up to its own expectations (and those of the audience) because of the sluggish pacing and sheer amount of assumed knowledge – it doesn't tell you a great deal about The Doors and what was happening to the band during their rise to stardom or when Morrison's substance abuse was threatening to tear them apart. There are fleeting references to events such as the car commercial that used Light My Fire because Manzarek, Densmore and Krieger had sold the rights without Morrison's knowledge so the film will obviously resonates much more with people who know and love the band and have a working knowledge of their history than those who only know some of their music.

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