Ting Poo and Leo Scott had their hands full in directing the life story of Val Kilmer. Taken almost entirely from his own incessant videotaping his life in it’s entirety, Val literally tells his life story. Had I not read his sumptuously written memoir “I’ll Be Your Huckleberry”, I may have been more impressed. But because Val is such a poignant writer, this Terrence Malik-esque doc wasn’t quite as moving.
Though move it does, we see it all here, from Val’s initial inspiration for movies from his brother Wesley, to the Batman role he loathed, to the meeting and working with his film idol Marlon Brando. And who doesn’t love great celebrity wedding footage? I loved seeing the intimate film document of his children and the melancholy of his subsequent divorce. The fact that he holds his two children so dear, his daughter living in the same duplex as Val, and his son a good sport to dress up as Robin to his Batman, is quite beautiful.
Worth seeing, yet probably more for film aficionado’s or Kilmer film fanatics. My favorite part was his portrayal of Mark Twain, unfortunately cut short by the diagnosis of his throat cancer. Here, Kilmer draws an interesting comparison to Twain, the man, who lost his daughters to illness and drowning, just as he had lost his brother. In the end, Kilmer wants us to know he is grateful to be alive and making the most of what life he has left.
