Top 50 Movies: Number 49

Number 49: Tombstone

I'm not generally a fan of westerns. I suppose that may be because I haven't seen many. I did like Young Guns I and II. I liked The Cowboys too. The shootist was pretty good also. Maybe I do like westerns. Anyhow, Tombstone is really nuts. There's something here for everyone who is an Alright Guy. Lots of action, solid acting, people getting shot and lots of one liners that remain in the memory long after seeing the film. I am, after all, your huckleberry.

Tombstone succeeds thanks to the charisma of its two leading men.

Tombstone revisits the story of the legendary shootout at the OK Corall between the Earps and Clantons. The main roles of Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday are played by Kurt Russell and Val Kilmer. Russell is very good as Earp, but Kilmer's portrayal of the terminally ill gambling gunslinger with a death wish steals the show. He spends the movie, sweating, coughing, shooting people and saying nuts things to piss people off (maybe poker's just not your game, Ike. I know! Let's have a spelling contest!) He plays the role with just right amount of bullshit sarcasm without being over the top.

Why Ed Bailey! Are we cross?

Earp, on the other hand, is a man doing everything he can to get away from the life that made him famous. He left a successful career as a sheriff to retire with his wife in the boom town of Tombstone. He winds up, of course, drawn back into the dangerous life much as he tries to avoid it, and once he decides to take up arms against the town's enemies he doesn't fuck around. ("You called down the thunder, well now you've GOT IT.") The supporting cast (Sam Elliott, Billybob Thornton, Bill Paxton) does a fine job as well. Tombstone is really damn nuts.

Also, Blogger's image adding feature really sucks.