"Val" (2021 release; 109 min.) is a documentary about actor/Hollywood enfant terrible Val Kilmer. As the movie opens, Harry Nilsson's Everybody's Talkin' is playing while we get a tour of Val's house and he shows the endless boxes of home videos and other footage that he has amassed over the decades. He also mentions that throat cancer has left his voice badly impaired--and his son Jack is doing the voice over in most of the documentary--although today's Val is interviewed as well. We then go to "How It All Began"... At this point we are 10 min. Into the documentary.
Couple of comments: although nominally directed by Leo Scott and Ting Poo, this is Val Kilmer's movie all the way. He is credited as writer and producer, but the real star in all of this is the endless archive footage that Val amassed and which is used to provide a deeply intimate and personal look back at the life and times of the erstwhile Hollywood enfant terrible. Thankfully the documentary is chronological. The footage of Val at The Juilliard School is priceless (Kelly McGillis was a contemporary). Val is perhaps best known for his roles in "The Doors" and "Batman Forever", and both films get extra attention. But it's when you look at Val's overall body of work that you get a sense of the vast talents of this man. The documentary does a great job conveying this, but it's in the personal (family; film's behind the scenes) moments that the documentary really shines. Just watch Val comment on the impact of his brother Wesley's death at age 15, just when Val was about to start at Juilliard.
"Val" premiered at this year's Cannes Film Festival, and had a brief theatrical run before then shifting to Amazon Prime, which is where I caught it. If you are a fan of Val Kilmer, or are simply interested in Hollywood, I'd readily suggest you check this out, be it in the theater (unlikely at this point), on VOD, or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion.
Couple of comments: although nominally directed by Leo Scott and Ting Poo, this is Val Kilmer's movie all the way. He is credited as writer and producer, but the real star in all of this is the endless archive footage that Val amassed and which is used to provide a deeply intimate and personal look back at the life and times of the erstwhile Hollywood enfant terrible. Thankfully the documentary is chronological. The footage of Val at The Juilliard School is priceless (Kelly McGillis was a contemporary). Val is perhaps best known for his roles in "The Doors" and "Batman Forever", and both films get extra attention. But it's when you look at Val's overall body of work that you get a sense of the vast talents of this man. The documentary does a great job conveying this, but it's in the personal (family; film's behind the scenes) moments that the documentary really shines. Just watch Val comment on the impact of his brother Wesley's death at age 15, just when Val was about to start at Juilliard.
"Val" premiered at this year's Cannes Film Festival, and had a brief theatrical run before then shifting to Amazon Prime, which is where I caught it. If you are a fan of Val Kilmer, or are simply interested in Hollywood, I'd readily suggest you check this out, be it in the theater (unlikely at this point), on VOD, or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion.