What the Hell Happened to Val Kilmer?

In the 80’s, Val Kilmer was Tom Cruise’s rival both on-screen and off.  Top Gun launched the actor to super stardom and Batman cemented his status at the top of the A-list.  But then, Kilmer’s career spiraled out of control.  Today, the former sex symbol is considered by many to be a bloated tabloid joke and his movies go straight to video.

What the hell happened?

At 12, Kilmer landed his first acting job in a TV commercial for a fast food chain.  He walked off the set because he could not find his motivation.  He told the director he could not pretend to like the hamburgers he was advertising.

At the age of 17, he became the youngest person at the time to be accepted into the Julliard School’s Drama Division. This success followed a personal tragedy.  His brother had recently drowned after an epileptic seizure in a swimming pool.

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Val Kilmer – The Slab Boys – 1983

Kilmer began his career as a stage actor.  He turned down a role in Francis Ford Coppola’s 1983 film, The Outsiders due to prior theater obligations.  In 1983, he appeared Off Broadway in “The Slab Boys” with Kevin Bacon and Sean Penn.

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Val Kilmer – Top Secret! – 1984

Kilmer’s first big break came in 1984 when he landed the lead role in the Zucker/Abrahams/Zucker spoof, Top Secret!

Kilmer played an American rock and roll star in the mold of Elvis Presley who gets roped into the world of espionage while touring East Germany.  Kilmer sang all of his own songs and released an album under his character’s name.

The film got mixed reviews and disappointed at the box office.  Top Secret opened at #7 beaten out by both Rhinestone and The Karate Kid.  But over time, Top Secret ! has become a cult film.  While it’s not a classic like Airplane!, it is better than your average spoof with many genuinely funny moments.

Co-director Jim Abrahams, remembered conflicts with Kilmer even at the start of his career. ”We would all butt heads when we couldn’t define a motivation for his character. He wanted to know who Nick Rivers was and why he would say things, and in the context of a parody, you think, ‘Is it really so important?”’

Val Kilmer - Real Genius - 1985
Val Kilmer – Real Genius – 1985

The following year, Kilmer starred in another cult comedy classic, 1985’s Real Genius.

Kilmer played a student at a school for geniuses who is building a laser for his senior project.  Although his character is not the lead, Kilmer steals the show with a manic performance.  He delivers one quotable punchline after another.

Producer, Brian Grazer described Kilmer’s on-set behavior thusly: ”He would just evaporate. No one could find him.”  He went on to say,  ”There’s always a point when I work with him when I vow not to work with him again.”

Director, Martha Coolidge described Kilmer’s on-set behavior:

“Val was the best guy for the part, but not so easy to work with. He was intellectually challenging and erratic, not so surprising since that was the character. It was a big demanding part and he often avoided working by asked a lot of questions and was sometimes late to the set and moody. He was almost in every scene for about 75 days – and I’m sure he was nervous. I’ve learned to give young actors space and discipline, encouragement and pushing when they need it. I like actors with ideas and he had many.”

In spite of mostly positive reviews, Real Genius also disappointed at the box office.  But like Top Secret!, it has gained cult status on video.

MICHELLE PFEIFFER, VAL KILMER
Val Kilmer and Michelle Pfeiffer – One Too Many – 1985

Later that year, Kilmer appeared in an ABC Afterschool Special about the dangers of drunk driving titled One Too Many.  And yes, that is a young Michelle Pfeiffer as his co-star.  Kilmer was so taken with Pfieffer that he wrote a book of poems entitled My Eden After Burns that included poems inspired by the future Catwoman.  Pfeiffer was married to the director, Peter Horton, at the time.

I believe a clip is in order.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_zVDu3NqQs]
The movie was filmed in 1983 when Pfieffer and Kilmer were still unknowns.  It aired two years later as the stars’ careers were heating up.

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Val Kilmer – Top Gun – 1986

Kilmer followed up lead roles in two quirky comedies with the 1986 smash, Top Gun directed by Tony Scott.

Tom Cruise starred as the cocky pilot Maverick.  Kilmer played his rival, Ice Man.  Cruise’s doomed best bud, Goose, was played by Anthony Edwards and his soon-to-be-widowed wife was played by Meg Ryan.  Kelly McGillis played the flight instructor who can’t resist Cruise’s singing.
Although it received mixed reviews, Top Gun tapped into the nation’s swelling patriotism during the Reagan years and became a huge hit at the box office.

Top Gun‘s success cemented Tom Cruise as a box office star and changed Kilmer’s career forever.  But he almost turned down his first big movie:

“I didn’t want to do Top Gun and I turned down a bunch of meetings with Tony. My agent was just torturing me, telling me, ‘You’re going to love him, he’s a great guy,’ so I went to meet him to get her off my back. So I meet him, listen to his deal, and then leave. As I pushed the button of the lift I heard this swooshing round the corner. The doors opened and Tony jumped in front of the lift and wouldn’t let me leave. He went, ‘It’s going to be great, man. There’ll be jets and whooof! And I know you don’t want to do it but your hair’s going to be great!'”

But it wasn’t meeting Tony Scott that convinced Kilmer to be in Top Gun.  It wasn’t even the allure of whoofing jefts or great hair.  Kilmer had a contract with Paramount and at the end of the day he was contractually obligated to play second fiddle to Cruise.

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Val Kilmer – Top Gun – 1986

That might be why the two actors famously didn’t get along on the set.  Or maybe it was that Kilmer kept pushing the rivalry on and off-screen.  Rumors have swirled for years of an on-set fist fight between Kilmer and Cruise although what exactly happened has never been confirmed.  Supposedly, Kilmer knocked Cruise out cold.

Kilmer came out on top in the short-term.  But who’s laughing now, Iceman?

Kilmer - Murder in the Rue Morgue
Val Kilmer – The Murders in the Rue Morgue – 1986

Later that year, Kilmer starred opposite George C. Scott and Rebecca De Mornay in the TV movie adaptation of Edgar Allen Poe’s The Murders in the Rue Morgue.

Scott played a retired detective and De Mornay played his daughter.  Her fiance is the prime suspect in a double murder mystery.  The clues are confounding and the resolution is, well, ridiculous.  *spoilers* It turns out the murders were committed by a monkey.

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Val Kilmer and Rebecca De Mornay – The Murders in the Rue Morgue – 1986

Or at least a guy in a cheap monkey costume.

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Val Kilmer – The Man Who Broke 1,000 Chains – 1987

In 1987, Kilmer starred in the HBO movie, The Man Who Broke 1,000 Chains.  Kilmer played Robert Eliot Burns, a real-life World War I vet who was sentenced to serve on a chain gang after he stole $5.29 in order to eat.  Burns’ story was also adapted into the 1932 movie, I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang.  At the time that movie was released, Burns really was still a fugitive.  But after the movie made waves, Burns was pardoned for his petty theft and the brutal Georgia chain gang system was ended.

full metal jacket
Full Metal Jacket

In 1987, Kilmer did NOT star in Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket.  But he may have inadvertently played a part in getting Matthew Modine cast in the lead role.  Modine tells the story:

I was with a good friend of mine, David Alan Grier; we were having pancakes at a place on Sunset Boulevard called the Source, and over David’s shoulder there was a guy looking at me, giving me the hairy eyeball. David looks over and says “Oh, that’s Val Kilmer, he’s a really nice guy,” and he introduced me. Val says “Yeah, I know who you are. I’m sick of you.” I had been on this run of films—BirdyMrs. Soffel, and Vision Quest. And Val says, “Now you’re doing Kubrick’s film.” When we finished our breakfast I called my manager. He didn’t know anything about it. I knew Kubrick was making a film with Warner Bros., so we asked [director] Harold Becker to send a print of Vision Quest, and we asked Alan Parker to send some dailies from Birdy.  It turns out that maybe Stanley didn’t know anything about me and Val Kilmer might have been responsible for me getting the part in Full Metal Jacket.

Probably not what Kilmer had in mind.

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Val Kilmer – Willow – 1988

Top Gun took Kilmer from quirky comedian into action hunk territory.  In 1988, he tried to cement his leading-man status in the George Lucas-produced fantasy, Willow.  Unfortunately, Willow was closer to Howard the Duck than Star Wars.

Kilmer played a thief who assists the protagonist played by Warwick Davis on his mission to save a baby.  Lucas was essentially ripping off Tolkien pretty shamelessly.  Kilmer’s Madmartigan was Aragon crossed with Han Solo.

Willow started as an idea George Lucas had in the early 70s.  He originally called it Munchkins which probably gives you some idea of how developed the concept was at the time.  I’m guessing Lucas had scribbled “Rip of Tolkein, Cast little person” on a napkin next to his other great ideas like “Rocker chick has sex with talking duck”.  While he was making Return of the Jedi, he approached Davis with the idea of starring in Willow.  Years later, while Ron Howard was at Lucas’ special effects company Industrial Light and Magic, Lucas approached him about the idea of directing Willow.  Lucas had cast Howard as the lead in American Graffiti. He thought that a collaboration with Howard could be as successful as his past collaborations with Steven Spielberg.

Reviews for Willow were mixed, though most enjoyed Kilmer’s humorous take on the reluctant hero.  Willow  failed to live up to expectations at the box office and plans for sequels were cancelled.  Lucas went on to collaborate on some Willow novels with comic book scribe Chris Claremont.  

There was also a popular Willow video game.  Over the years, Willow has developed a cult following on video.  

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Val Kilmer – Joanne Whalley

While filming Willow, Kilmer started a romantic relationship with his co-star Joanne Whalley.  The couple married after dating for only a few months.  Throughout the marriage rumors of Kilmer’s womanizing swirled.  According to Kilmer’s older brother, “Val has no example in his life of a good relationship he can look to.”  Kilmer’s own parents had divorced and his relationship with his father was strained.

kilmer kill me again
Val Kilmer – Kill Me Again – 1989

In 1989, Kilmer’s rise to fame suffered a set-back.  He starred opposite his wife, Joanne Whalley (now Whalley-Kilmer) in the thriller, Kill Me Again.

Kilmer played a private eye who is hired by a beautiful woman (Whalley) to fake her death.  She is hiding out from her jealous ex-boy friend played by Michael Madsen.  When Madsen discovers that Whalley is still alive, he comes after her and the money she stole from him.

Writer/director John Dahl would eventually go on to success with similar neo-noir thrillers like Red Rock West and The Last Seduction.  But Kill Me Again was trashed by critics and bombed at the box office.

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Val Kilmer – Billy the Kid – 1989

Kilmer also appeared in the TV movie, Gore Vidal’s Billy the Kid.

Kilmer played the title role in a Western that was considered one of the more historically accurate takes on the character.

kilmer - the doors
Val Kilmer and Meg Ryan – The Doors – 1991

In 1991, Kilmer starred as Jim Morrison in Oliver Stone’s biopic, The Doors.
Kilmer played the poet turned rock and roll legend.  The rest of the band was played by Kyle MacLachlan, Kevin Dillon and Frank Whaley.  Meg Ryan co-starred as Morrison’s hippie girlfriend, Pamela Courson.  Kilmer reportedly spent several thousand dollars of his own money to film a video of himself as Morrison in order to land the role.  Kilmer’s intense dedication to the role is evident on-screen and in his musical performances.

Stone is one of Kilmer’s bigger supporters.  He actually went on to work with Kilmer again in Alexander.  But even Stone admits that Kilmer can be difficult to work with.  He describes Kilmer as “passionate about his work — with the wrong approach, you may see a side of him you don’t like.”
While most critics praised Kilmer, the film itself got mostly negative reviews and underperformed at the box office.

kilmer - thunderheart
Val Kilmer – Thunderheart -1992

Kilmer followed up The Doors with Thunderheart in 1992.
Kilmer played an FBI agent with Sioux heritage investigating a murder on a Native American reservation.

This time, the reviews were mostly positive.  But the Native American-themed mystery didn’t catch on with audiences.  Although it has generated a small cult following over the years.

Kilmer admitted to conflicts with director Michael Apted.  “I drove him crazy, and he said so right away. I wasn’t satisfied with certain aspects of the story, so I kept working on them…. I’m very unhappy when I don’t know what I’m doing or not given the facility to find out.”

kilmer real mccoy
Val Kilmer and Kim Basinger – The Real McCoy – 1993

1993 was a busy year for Kilmer.  It started off slowly with the utterly forgettable Kim Basinger heist movie, The Real McCoy.
Basinger played a notorious bank robber who is trying to go straight after being released from prison.  However, he corrupt parole office and former employer force her into pulling off one last score.  Kilmer plays her love interest

According to one exec on the set of The Real McCoy, Kilmer once became enraged when a scene wasn’t altered to his liking.  Kilmer reportedly started firing his prop gun at a car.

The movie got lousy reviews and flopped at the box office.

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Val Kilmer and Kurt Russell – Tombstone – 1993

Later that year, Kilmer co-starred opposite Kurt Russell in the western, Tombstone.

Tombstone had a lot working against it.  Kevin Costner was developing his own Wyatt Earp biopic with director Lawrence Kasdan.  Costner put pressure on other studios not to release the competing Earp movie.  The only studio that would defy Costner was Buena Vista.

The writer and original director of Tombstone, Kevin Jarre, and Kurt Russell both wanted to cast Willem Dafoe as Doc Holiday.  But Buena Vista refused based on Dafoe’s role in the controversial Last Temptation of Christ.  Since no other studio would touch the movie, Jarre and Russell went with their second choice, Kilmer.

Kilmer clashed with Jarre as a director.   Years later, Kilmer told a reporter about an argument over Kilmer’s wardrobe.  ”I found it a little inconvenient that the first director insisted on our wearing real wool. ‘It has to be real wool.  You can tell the difference.’  Well, you can’t, Kevin Jarre — you can’t tell the difference between real wool and any blend, even in a macro close-up, okay?”

Jarre recalls working with Kilmer on Tombstone, ”There’s a dark side to Val that I don’t feel comfortable talking about.”  Rather than talk about Kilmer’s “dark side”, Jarre recounted a story of Kilmer’s odd behavior:

“We were deep in conversation about Doc Holliday, and this stand-in brought over a very colorful sort of locust and said, ‘Look what I found!’ I looked up and said, ‘Hey, that’s pretty good,’ and Val, without saying a word, grabbed the locust from the guy and ate it. And it was big. He said to me, ‘As you know, I have a reputation for being difficult. But only with stupid people.”’

Early into production, Jarre was fired as director.  Rumor has it, Kilmer was responsible.  On the recommendation of Sylvester Stallone, Russell enlisted George P. Cosmatos to direct.  Cosmatos had directed Stallone in Rambo and Cobra.  After Cosmatos’ death, Russell claimed that he had actually directed Tombstone himself and Cosmatos served as a ghost director.

In the battle of the Wyatt Earp films, Tombstone came out on top.  Costner’s Earp was an expensive flop.

kilmer - true romance
Val Kilmer and Christian Slater – True Romance – 1993

While it’s really a footnote in his career, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Val Kilmer’s appearance as an Elvis-like apparition in 1993’s Quentin Tarrantino-written and Tony Scott-directed True Romance.

True Romance starred Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette.  Kilmer’s role is really just one of many cameos in the film.  But it gave the actor a certain amount of street cred among the film’s cult fans.  (Brad Pitt’s cameo was the best though!)

kilmer kidman batman forever
Val Kilmer and Nicole Kidman – Batman Forever – 1995

By now, Kilmer had paid his dues.  With 1995’s Batman Forever, it was finally time for him to make the A-list.  When Michael Keaton decided he was rich enough not to have to deal with any more shitty Batman movies, Val Kilmer was picked to usher in the Age of Schumacher.

Opinions on Kilmer’s turn as Batman are divided.  For my money, he looked okay in the Batsuit.  But he slept-walked through his scenes as Bruce Wayne.  Jim Carrey and Tommy Lee Jones played the villains, the Riddler and Two-Face.  Nicole Kidman played the love interest and Chris O’Donnell played Robin, the 20-something Boy Wonder.

In recent interviews, Joel Schumacher picked Kilmer as the best screen Batman.  Over Keaton.  Over Bale.  Even over Adam West.  You might think this is unsurprising given that Schumacher cast Kilmer in the role.  But remember, Schumacher would go on to fire him before Batman and Robin.

kilmer - batman forever
Val Kilmer – Batman Forever – 1995

Despite the fact that nobody really liked it very much, Batman Forever was a huge hit at the box office.  It was lighter and more kid-friendly than the previous Batman movie which gave Joel Schumacher a lot of pull with Warner Brothers when it came time to make a sequel.

This was unfortunate for Kilmer.  His on-set antics put him at odds with Schumacher.  Schumacher claimed that the fights escalated into a shoving match.  He called the actor ”childish and impossible.”  The end result was that Kilmer was out as Batman after only one film.

Kilmer has said that he dropped out of the Batman franchise due to commitments to The Saint.  Schumacher sums up the situation as follows: ”He sort of quit, we sort of fired him.  It probably depends on who’s telling the story.”

According to an unnamed Warner Bros insider, Kilmer’s contract required him to make a second Bat-film.  When Kilmer announced that he would be making The Saint for Paramount until mid-July, leaving only days to prepare for Batman and Robin, Warner Bros. reminded Paramount that Kilmer was due on Batman Aug. 1. “They went insane and said they’d make The Saint without Val. Suddenly Val says, ‘Then I won’t do Batman,’ thinking we’d say, ‘Oh, come a month later.'”  Instead, Warner Bros quietly released Kilmer from his contract.

Schumacher recounted working with Kilmer on Batman Forever.  “He was being irrational and ballistic with the first AD, the cameraman, the costume people. He was badly behaved, rude and inappropriate…We had two weeks where he did not speak to me, but it was bliss.”

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Val Kilmer – Heat – 1995

In 1995, Kilmer also appeared in a supporting role in Michael Mann’s Heat.  The buzz on Heat was all about the pairing of Al Pacino and Robert De Niro.  To the degree that it’s actually easy to forget that Kilmer’s in the film.

Kilmer played De Niro’s right hand man.  Ashley Judd played his unfaithful wife.
Much like True Romance, Heat adds to Kilmer’s street cred if nothing else.  And you know he had to love appearing in a film with two screen icons.

kilmer - island of dr moreau
Val Kilmer – Island of Dr. Moreau – 1996

In 1996 Kilmer appeared opposite another screen icon in the infamous Island of Dr. Moreau.  This turkey has to be seen to be believed.  On the level of a surreal piece of camp, it’s a hoot with Marlon Brando under pounds of pancake make-up and Kilmer just being batshit crazy.

The legendary Brando was unimpressed with Kilmer’s on-set behavior and told him so saying, “You are confusing your talent with the size of your paycheck.”

Ouch.

Kilmer’s antics on Moreau are the stuff of legend.  He was going through a divorce from Willow co-star Joanne Whalley at the time and decided he wanted his part reduced by 40%.

This forced director Richard Stanley to recast Kilmer in a smaller role and to give the lead role to Rob Morrow.  Stanley described the situation:

“Val’s opening gambit was to reduce the lead by 40 percent.  My initial note to him, which started the relationship off badly was, ‘No, we can’t reduce the role — you’re crazy.’ So I came up with a way to save my own ass. I was the stupid idiot who suggested he play Montgomery.”

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Val Kilmer – Island of Dr. Moreau – 1996

Stanley described Kilmer’s on-set behavior, “Val would arrive, and an argument would happen.  He’d do the lines but he’d throw it all away.  And he kept insisting on odd bits and pieces of his wardrobe that didn’t make sense, like a piece of blue material wrapped around his arm. It was like, ‘Why is that around his arm, and will he take it off?”

An unnamed actor on the set claimed that Kilmer kept reciting lines.  But they were ”lines written for other characters, in other scenes.”

Kilmer didn’t show up on the set until 3:00 in the afternoon.  Stanley said he spoke to Kilmer’s agent who also happened to be his agent.  Their mutual agent told Stanley not to worry.  According to their agent, every movie Kilmer makes loses the first two days due to Kilmer coming in late.
After four days of filming, Stanley was fired.  Rumor has it Kilmer was responsible for the firing.   As Stanley put it:

”’He would refuse to rehearse. He’s clever, because then we’d just shoot it, and the moment you shoot it, it’s rushes, and it goes back to the company.  New Line’s point of view was, Val was the money, and if it came down to being between me and Val…”

Morrow realized he was on a sinking ship and he bailed with the canned director.  Morrow was replaced by David Thewlis and Stanley was replaced with veteran director John Frankenheimer.

island of dr moreau
Val Kilmer – Island of Dr. Moreau – 1996

The changes didn’t help.  Reportedly, Kilmer burned a cameraman with a cigarette.

According to executive producer Tim Zinnemann: ”Val was sort of teasing him with the end of his cigarette and burned this guy’s sideburn.  The guy was upset, naturally.”

An unnamed witness on the set recalls things a little differently: ”He burned that cameraman right on his face, and no, he wasn’t fooling around. It was intentional. He did apologize to the crew.”

And he didn’t get along with Frankenheimer either.  He once turned to Frankenheimer and said, ”You know what I think?” To which Frankenheimer responded, ”I don’t give a fuck. Get off my set.”

Frankenheimer told the press, “There are two things I will never ever do in my whole life. The first is that I will never climb Mt. Everest. The second is that I will never work with Val Kilmer ever again.”  When Kilmer filmed his last scene, Frankenheimer cried to the crew “Now get that bastard off my set!”

Frankenheimer later told Entertainment Weekly, ”I don’t like Val Kilmer, I don’t like his work ethic, and I don’t want to be associated with him ever again.”

Kilmer has been reluctant to address Frankenheimer’s charges.  After the director’s passing, an interviewer asked Kilmer if Frankenheimer’s claims were true.  Kilmer deflected the question:

“What a shame. He’s dead. What a drag to sit here and defend myself. To sit here and talk about John Frankenheimer. Advise me. I don’t want to talk about him any more. What do I do when the next guy asks me a question? Because I’ve got to figure out a way.”

But the story of Dr. Moreau gets stranger still.  The original director, Richard Stanley, was still lurking around the set.  With the help of the make-up team, Stanley posed as one of the extras:

”I decided to come back as a melting bulldog.  I didn’t know Frankenheimer or the assistant directors, so they didn’t recognize me. I couldn’t have come that far and not seen Brando.  At Brando’s wrap party, I took the dog mask off and showed who I was. Kilmer came up and hugged and kissed me and said how sorry he was.”

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Val Kilmer – Ghost in the Darkness – 1996

In 1996, Kilmer co-starred opposite Michael Douglas in the African thriller, The Ghost and the Darkness.

The story is a highly fictionalized account of the story of  John Henry Patterson, a military engineer who killed two lions who had already killed several people.  The premise is basically Jaws on land.

Legendary screen-writer William Goldman has laid some of the blame for the movie’s failure on Kilmer.  He tells a story of a time when Douglas, who was also the producer of the movie, dressed down Kilmer in front of the whole crew for his unprofessional behavior.  Kilmer was living in a tent on the set taking in the African experience.  According to Kilmer, he was not responsible for the problems on the set and explained as much to Douglas when he got the chance.

Kilmer received a Razzie nomination that year for Worst Supporting Actor for his work in The Ghost and the Darkness and The Island of Dr. Moreau.

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Val Kilmer – Dead Girl – 1996

Also in 1996, Kilmer had a supporting role in an experimental movie called Dead Girl.  It’s about an actor who kills his girlfriend and, um, tries to maintain a relationship with her corpse.  Kilmer plays his much-needed psychiatrist, Dr. Dark.

The movie was never released in the US.  I can’t imagine why not.

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Val Kilmer and Elisabeth Shue – The Saint – 1997

In 1997, Kilmer made an attempt to return to the spotlight with the big screen adaptation of TV’s The Saint.

The Saint had been in production limbo for years.  Several famous actors turned down the role before Kilmer finally agreed to star.  When he was cast, Kilmer insisted on a rewrite by Wesley Strick to make the script more to his liking.

The film was directed by Philip Noyce and co-starred Elisabeth Shue.  The original cut of the film included Shue’s character’s death about two thirds of the way through the movie.  But audience didn’t like Shue’s death and so the movie was recut with a happier ending.

Several actors were considered for the lead role.  Noyce wanted to cast Mel Gibson.  But Gibson wanted a break after filming Braveheart.  Ralph Fiennes was offered $1 million to take the lead.  Hugh Grant was also offer the role and turned it down.

Kilmer insisted on creating his own disguises.  Which, credit where credit is due, are easily the most entertaining thing about the movie.  He also wrote his own poetry for one of his alter egos.

Ultimately, The Saint got mixed reviews and disappointed at the box office.  The planned franchise stalled out after just one movie.  It’s hard to say whether or not Kilmer would have been better off making Batman and Robin considering how that movie turned out.

Kilmer followed-up The Saint with voice-over work as Moses in Dreamwork’s pre-Shrek Old Testament cartoon, The Prince of Egypt in 1998.
Former Disney studio chief, Jeffrey Katzenberg, constantly pitched his boss, Michael Eisner, on the idea of an animated version of The Ten Commandments.  Eisner constantly turned Katzenberg down.  So when Katzenberg formed his own animation studio at Dreamworks, The Prince of Egypt was his first project.  Katzenberg hedged his bets with an all-star cast of voice actors.  In addition to playing Moses, Kilmer also voiced God (which he probably considered type-casting).

The supporting cast included Ralph Fiennes, Michelle Pfeiffer, Sandra Bullock, Jeff Goldblum, Danny Glover, Patrick Stewart, Helen Mirren, Steve Martin and Martin Short.  Martin played Hotep.  

The animated feature received mostly positive reviews and was a modest hit at the box office.  It spawned a direct-to-video prequel, Joseph: King of Dreams, in 2000.

At First Sight
Val Kilmer and Mira Sorvino – At First Sight – 1999

And in 1999, he played a blind dude who found love with Mira Sorvino.  I’m just now realizing that Val Kilmer is like the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon when it comes to What the Hell Happened?  Somehow, career implosion is never far behind with this guy.

The movie is probably best remembered for the Batman’s tux bit on Friends where Chandler dismisses At First Sight as a “tutti fruity love story where he plays a blind guy”.  A pretty accurate assessment.

Kilmer did just about everything but blind himself to prepare for the role.  But few could tolerate the mush.  Reviews were negative and the movie flopped.

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Val Kilmer – Joe the King – 1999

Also in 1999, Kilmer took a supporting role in the drama, Joe the King.
The story is about a child who suffers from abuse and turns to criminal activity as a means of coping.  It was directed by Kilmer’s former Doors co-star, Frank Whaley, who calls the movie “semi-autobiographical”.

Originally, co-star John Leguizamo was set to direct.  But between acting and co-producing, Leguizamo decided to step aside and let Whaley (who was also a producer) direct.

Kilmer played the abusive father.  He gained weight for the role.  Taking the weight off would present problems later on.
Reviews were mixed.  Joe the King made the film festival circuit where it failed to make a strong impression.

Over the course of Kilmer’s career, he turned down a lot of projects.  Reflecting back, Kilmer admits that turning down so many projects negatively impacted his career:

“I really didn’t take the business as seriously as a professional as I should have. We are all sensitive and I didn’t realise how sensitive we are. People like getting Christmas cards you know. “You just don’t turn down certain directors. You just don’t. I didn’t realise how precious time is. I thought I could work with them again, when I turned them down. “I now realise I won’t get another chance. I’ve turned down a lot of roles. The Insider is one. And I turned down The Matrix, Laurence Fishburne’s role.”

Of all the projects Kilmer turned down (there are so many, that I have devoted an entire article to What Might Have Been) The Matrix is the one people point to most frequently as a missed opportunity.  If Kilmer had starred in The Matrix as opposed to At First Sight, his career would certainly have been extended if for no other reason than he would have been in the two Matrix sequels.  Then again, maybe he would have been replaced by George Clooney.

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Val Kilmer – Pollack – 2000

In 2000, Kilmer had a supporting role in Ed Harris’ Jackson Pollock biopic, Pollock.

Harris directed the film himself while playing the lead role of the abstract painter known for his  unique style of drip painting.  Kilmer played one of Pollock’s contemporaries, Willem de Kooning.

Kilmer’s role is small.  It’s basically a cameo.  But Pollock was well-received.  Harris was nominated for Best Actor and Marcia Gay Harden won for Best Actress.  Sometimes, it’s better to have a small role in a good movie than a lead role in a turkey like…

kilmer - red planet
Val Kilmer – Red Planet – 2000

Kilmer’s next starring role was in the sci-fi dud, Red Planet.  Kilmer played a space janitor opposite Tom Sizemore and Carrie-Anne Moss from The Matrix.

Sadly, I know I’ve seen this movie.  But for the life of me, I can’t remember a damned thing about it.  I keep getting it confused with the equally forgettable Mission to Mars starring Lt. Dan.

The most notable thing about Red Planet was yet another Kilmer feud.  This time it was with co-star Tom Sizemore Kilmer and Sizemore had been off-and-on friends leading up to working together on Red Planet.  But according to Sizemore, Kilmer grew irate when he realized that production had paid for Sizemore’s elliptical machine to be shipped to Australia.

Sizemore claims Kilmer shouted, “I’m making ten million on this; you’re only making two.” He responded by throwing a 50-pound weight at Kilmer.  He missed. Things got so bad that one of the producers asked Sizemore not to hit Kilmer in the face should they get into a fight. When that seemingly inevitable fight finally came, Sizemore says he knocked Kilmer down with a blow to the chest.

As things spiraled downwards, the two actors reportedly refused to film scenes together.  Supposedly some scenes were shot over the shoulders of stand-ins to accommodate the actors’ mutual dislike of one another.  Kilmer refused to call Sizemore’s character by name and instead said things like “Hey you.”

After Red Planet, Kilmer did what any self-respecting person would do.  He hid from public view.  Kilmer was absent from the big screen between 2000 and 2002.  He attributes his absence to spending more time with his kids.  Kilmer went through a nasty divorce from Joanne Whalley in 1996.  The custody battle was reportedly very bitter made worse by allegations that Kilmer had cheated on Whalley while filming Batman Forever.  Whalley threatened to return to England with the kids.

kilmer - salton sea
Val Kilmer – The Salton Sea – 2002

When Kilmer did return to the big screen in 2002, it was in the crime drama, The Salton Sea.

Kilmer played a man who witnesses his wife’s murder and poses as a drug dealer to track down the person responsible.  The deeper he goes into the seedy underworld, the more he risks losing himself.

Kilmer, as always, was very devoted to his role.  To research, he spend time with addicts in the greater Los Angeles area.  While filming, he spent three hours a day in make-up having the fake tattoos applied.
The Salton Sea received mixed to positive reviews.  Roger Ebert noted:

The Salton Sea is all pieces and no coherent whole. Maybe life on meth is like that. The plot does finally explain itself, like a dislocated shoulder popping back into place, but then the plot is off the shelf; only the characters and details set the movie aside from its stablemates. I liked it because it was so endlessly, grotesquely, inventive: Watching it, I pictured Tarantino throwing a stick into a swamp, and the movie swimming out through the muck, retrieving it, and bringing it back with its tail wagging.”

The movie never received a wide release.  So most audiences never got a chance to see it.

kilmer - hard cash
In 2002, Kilmer also starred opposite Christian Slater, Darryl Hannah, Verne Troyer, and Bokeem Woodbine in the heist movie, Hard Cash (also known as Run for the Money).

Slater played a master thief just released from prison.  He puts together one last heist only to be busted by a corrupt FBI agent played by Kilmer.  Rather than arrest Slater, Kilmer wants in on some of that sweet hard cash.

Hard Cash was an omen of things to come for both Slater and Kilmer.  It went direct-to-video.

kilmer - masked and annyomous
Val Kilmer – Masked and Anonymous – 2003

Kilmer had a busy year in 2003.  But odds are, you have never seen most of the movies he was involved in that year.  First, he had a cameo role in the Bob Dylan comedy-drama, Masked and Anonymous.

Masked and Anonymous was written by Larry Charles (best known for his work on Seinfeld) and legendary musician Bob Dylan.  Both used pseudonyms because it was that kind of movie.  Many big-name Hollywood stars signed on for small roles and were paid scale for the opportunity to hang with Dylan.  Among the stars were Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Penélope Cruz, Luke Wilson and Jessica Lange.

Reviews were poor.  Critics, it seemed, didn’t get it.  Maybe no one did.  Charles explained his intent:

“When I made the Bob Dylan movie [Masked and Anonymous], I wanted to make a Bob Dylan movie that was like a Bob Dylan song. One with a lot of layers, that had a lot of poetry, that had a lot of surrealism and was ambiguous and hard to figure out, like a puzzle.”

kilmer - wonderland
Val Kilmer – Wonderland – 2003

Later that year, Kilmer starred opposite Kate (Worst Lois Lane Evah!) Bosworth in the John Holmes biopic, Wonderland.

Holmes was, by all accounts, a swell guy.  By 1981, he was a washed-up porn star with a teenage mistress and a drug problem.  The movie details the death of four people Holmes was suspected of killing.  Divorced, washed-up actor?  Might have seemed a bit like type casting.

Wonderland was supposed to be a comeback for Kilmer.  But critics didn’t care for the movie and audiences never really got a chance to see it.

Also in 2003, Kilmer had a chance to reunite with Willow director, Ron Howard.  Kilmer had said some unkind things about Howard following an injury on the set of Willow.  When word got back that Howard was holding a grudge, Kilmer reached out and apologized.  This resulted in Howard casting Kilmer in a cameo role in his Western thriller, The Missing.  The Missing starred Cate Blanchett and Kilmer’s Batman Forever co-star, Tommy Lee Jones.  Reviews were mixed and the movie bombed at the box office.

kilmer - blind horizon
Val Kilmer and Neve Campbell – Blind Horizon – 2003

Kilmer finished the year by starring opposite Neve Campbell in the thriller, Blind Horizon.

Kilmer played a man who lost his memory after having been shot in the head.  As he attempts to retrace his steps, he begins to suspect he may have been involved in a plot to kill the president.

By this point, Kilmer was living on a giant ranch in New Mexico.  He helped to bring Blind Horizon to New Mexico in an effort to boost the economy.  The movie was funded in conjunction with New Mexico’s Film Investment Program.  While the movie was not released in the US, it did well enough overseas an on video for the project to be a financial success.

kilmer - spartan
Val Kilmer – Spartan – 2004

In 2004, Kilmer started in David Mamet’s political thriller, Spartan.
Kilmer played a former special forces op who is called in to help locate a politician’s daughter played by Kristen Bell.  William H. Macy, Derek Luke and Ed O’Neill co-starred.

Reviews for Spartan were mixed.  It received a limited release in theaters.

Val Kilmer and Colin Ferrell - Alexander - 2004
Val Kilmer and Colin Ferrell – Alexander – 2004

Kilmer’s career was entering free fall with many of his movies going straight to video.  Oliver Stone attempted a rescue by casting Kilmer as the fat, one-eyed king of Macedon in 2004’s Alexander.

Colin Farrell starred as Alexander the Great.  Because Farrell was unable to shake his Irish accent, the other actors adopted Irish accents of their own.  Kilmer was at one point in his career considered for the lead role.  But by this point, he was more suited for a supporting role.  Kilmer put on 50 lbs to play King Philip.  He struggled for years to take the weight back off.

Unfortunately, Alexander was an infamous bomb which at best contributed to Kilmer’s career spiral.  Reviews were negative and Alexander was nominated for six Golden Raspberry Awards including Worst Supporting Actor for Kilmer.

Oliver Stone discussed what it was like to work with Kilmer a second time:

“We didn’t have the greatest relationship when we made The Doors.  I always thought he was a technically brilliant actor, but he was difficult. He can be moody. But when we did Alexander, Val was an absolute pleasure to work with. I think part of his problem with The Doors was that he just got sick of wearing leather pants every day.”

kilmer - mindhunters
Val Kilmer – Mindhunters – 2005

In 2005, Kilmer appeared opposite LL Cool J in Renny Harlin’s thriller, Mindhunters.

The movie was about a class of FBI trainees on a remote island.  They have to put their mindhunting skills to the test when they realize that someone in their class is a serial killer.

You might look at that picture and think, “Whoa, lebeau.  I thought you said Kilmer had trouble shedding the 50 lbs he gained for Alexander.”  He looks relatively trim, does he not?  That’s because Mindhunters was filmed in 2002 and sat on a shelf for several years.  It was released overseas in 2004 and in the US in 2005.

This was Kilmer’s third movie with Christian Slater.  Given their temperaments, it’s probably no surprise that there were rumors of a feud.
Critics panned Mindhunters and it bombed at the box office.

kilmer - kiss kiss bang bang
Val Kilmer – Kiss Kiss Bang Bang – 2006

Kilmer got another shot at redemption in 2005’s Kiss Kiss Bang Bang co-starring with future Iron Man, Robert Downey Jr.

Downey played a thief posing as an actor.  He eventually teams with a gay private investigator played by Kilmer to solve a mystery.

Downey was rehabbing his career after legal entanglements from years of drug use.  In a show of solidarity, Kilmer pledged not to drink during the entire 3-month shoot.

Originally, Harrison Ford was offered Kilmer’s role.  When he passed and Kilmer was cast, the studio insisted on cutting the budget.

While the critics were kind to Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, audiences were not.  Downey would go on to a remarkable rebound with box office hits like Iron Man and Sherlock Holmes.  Kilmer would go on to voice the car in the Knight Rider re-do.

kilmer deja vu
Val Kilmer – Deja Vu – 2006

In 2006, Kilmer appeared in a slew of direct-to-video releases.  He is up front about having made them for the money.  In a few years, Kilmer’s money problems would make headlines.  But Kilmer was also trying to raise $50 million dollars to finance his Mark Twain movie.

Kilmer did manager to work with Top Gun director, Tony Scott, one final time.  Ever since Kilmer passed on the opportunity to star in Scott’s 1995 thriller, Crimson Tide, the director had formed a successful partnership with Crimson star, Denzel Washington.  Washington and Scott made several moderately successful movies together in the years that followed.  Scott cast Kilmer in a small role in Deja Vu.

Like most Tony Scott/Denzel Washington movies, Deja Vu received mixed reviews and did solid box office.

In 2004, Kilmer had appeared in The Ten Commandments: the Musical.  Given the success of Prince of Egypt, that may seem like a no brainer.  But the play was not well-received.  Most of the reviews praised the performances while trashing the production.  Kilmer, however, was singled out as miscast in the lead.

A pre-American Idol Adam Lambert appears.  Because of Lambert’s popularity, the play was released to DVD in 2006.

In 2008, someone had the bright idea to reboot 80’s TV show Knight Rider.  Kilmer briefly collected a paycheck voicing the car.

2008 brought another wave of direct-to-video releases.  Kilmer also did voice work in the animated feature, Delgo.

Freddie Prinze Jr. played Delgo, a teenager in a fantasy land where everyone kind of looks like a turtle.   His I Know What You Did Last Summer co-star, Jennifer Love Hewitt, voiced the princess.  Anne Bancroft played an Empress.  Chris Kattan, Louis Gosset Jr., Malcolm McDowell, Eric Idle, Kelly Ripa and Burt Reynolds were among the other celebrity voices.

Delgo is known for having done record-setting box office.  The record Delgo set was for the worst box office on an opening weekend with a release on over 2000 screens.  The film averaged less than two people per showing!

kilmer- bad lietenant
Nicolas Cage and Val Kilmer – The Bad Lieutenant – 2009

2009 brought another round of direct-to-video releases.  But Kilmer did score a supporting role opposite Nicolas Cage in Werner Herzog’s The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans.

The original Bad Lieutenant was directed by Abel Ferrara and starred Harvey Keitel.  Herzog insisted that his film was neither a remake nor a sequel but a “rethought” which I suppose is kind of like Tim Burton’s “reimagining” of The Planet of the Apes.

Herzog went on to distance his film, The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans from the original, “It only has a corrupt policeman as the central character and that’s about it.”  He claimed never to have seen Ferrara’s original film.

Ferrara was furious.  “As far as remakes go … I wish these people die in Hell. I hope they’re all in the same streetcar, and it blows up,” he said.
For the most part, critics liked  Herzog’s crazy take on the material.  But in spite of mostly positive reviews, the film bombed at the box office.

kilmer - macgruber
Val Kilmer – MacGruber – 2010

As Kilmer’s career cooled, he began appearing on Saturday Night Live – something he strangely hadn’t done at the peak of his popularity.  This lead to Kilmer being cast as the villain opposite Will Forte in the MacGyver parody, MacGruber.

It was Kilmer’s biggest, most high-profile role in years.  Unfortunately, like most SNL movies, the sketch was too thin to be stretched out to 90 minutes.  Reviews were mixed to negative and the movie tanked.

Planes
Since then, if you wanted to see Kilmer, it mostly meant making a trip to the video store or Netflix.  Because most everything he has done has gone straight to video.  Kilmer and Top Gun costar Anthony Edwards did provide voices for Disney’s Planes in 2013.

In 2014, Kilmer had a cameo role in Will Ferrell’s comic mini-series, The Spoils of Babylon on IFC.

kilmer - twain
Val Kilmer – Citizen Twain – 2013

For the last several years, Kilmer has been working on a passion project.  He has been developing a Mark Twain biopic.  In an effort to raise money for his movie and to prepare for the role, Kilmer developed a one-man show which he took on the road.  Assuming he is able to raise the fund necessary, Kilmer intends to make his directorial debut with a film version of his play, Citizen Twain.

So, what the hell happened?

Obviously, Kilmer burned a lot of bridges.  You’ll find some people who will defend Kilmer and his dedication to his craft.  But the reason they have to defend Kilmer is that he has acted like a prima donna to such an extent that even people in Hollywood who are used to dealing with prima donnas got sick of his shit and decided they didn’t want to play with him anymore.

It didn’t help that one of the people Kilmer pissed off was the most powerful movie star of the 80’s.  Tom Cruise has almost certainly cost Kilmer roles over the years.  Although some of Kilmer’s other enemies were less powerful and/or more forgiving, each bridge burned certainly contributed to Kilmer’s toxic reputation.

Additionally, Kilmer ran into money problems.  In 2009, he put his ranch in New Mexico up for sale.  He listed it at 33 million dollars.  He had intended to use the ranch to develop an upscale retreat.  But he ran into problems when the town refused to approve his plans.  Apparently they were upset about comments Kilmer had made about the area.  They demanded that Kilmer publicly apologize for saying that “80% of the people in my county are drunk,” and describing his part of the state as “the homicide capital of the Southwest”.

In 2010, Kilmer ran afoul of the IRS for back taxes.  In 2011, his ex-wife sued him for unpaid child support.  She alleged Kilmer had fallen behind with his $27,500-per-month payments .  So she established a lien on Kilmer’s ranch to get him to pay up.  Shortly thereafter, the IRS also placed a lien against the ranch for additional unpaid taxes.  In 2011, Kilmer sold his ranch for $18.5 million dollars and paid off the IRS.  But it wasn’t long before the IRS was after Kilmer for more back taxes.

Also, there’s this.
fat val kilmer

For a time, Kilmer struggled with his weight.  Lots of middle-aged men fight the battle of the bulge, but it can be career-threatening to a guy whose job requires matinee-idol good looks.  As he got older, Kilmer no longer looked the part of a leading man.

Sadly, his health has deteriorated in recent years.  In 2015, he was diagnosed with throat cancer.  Initially, he denied that he was sick, but it was obvious from his rare public appearances that Kilmer was not well.

In 2017, Kilmer admitted to having a “procedure on his trachea has reduced his voice to a rasp and rendered him short of breath”.  His health problems are ongoing and we certainly wish him well.  Next year, Kilmer is set to make an appearance in the long-awaited Top Gun sequel although the extent of his participant is unknown.

For an alternate point of view, check out our follow-up written by Val Kilmer’s biggest fan.

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Geo
Geo
12 years ago

Yeeeah! Fantastic write-up! I knew the fat pictures were coming, but I had no idea that he’d actually beached himself! As you’ve noted, a big part of this implosion is clearly Kilmer’s fault. Annoying the hell out of everyone on almost every film you work on eventually will take its toll. Aside from the morbid weight gain, the lowlight of this career has to be voicing “Kitt” in the failed Knight Rider reboot. Thanks for another entry in this ongoing series of implosive acting careers! Happily subscribed, and looking forward to the next one.

Geo
Geo
12 years ago
Reply to  lebeau

I do have a request…Sean Young. If memory serves, a severe lowlight was Ms. Young’s desperate but failed attempt at winning the part of Catwoman in Burton’s Batman sequel (starting to see a Batman curse here). Would love to hear the details of “what the hell happened to” this Blade Runner starlet.

Geo
Geo
12 years ago
Reply to  lebeau

: )

Anon
Anon
12 years ago

Well he also cheated on his wife, a lot =divorce so maybe he’s just self destructive to begin with and didn’t know how good he had it until he’s doing b movies

Circle
Circle
12 years ago

omg I adore your good job here! As we pals watched those movies: MacGruber, 5 Days of War, and Kill the Irishman, we told one another that Kilmer is Back !… while… oops, in a whale-suit !
I love Top Gun, I love The Saint, I love …(no, I don’t)… Batman Forever. And I hope I didn’t see Kilmer in rubbisx MacGruber.
I wish I’ll never see him again, until he’s told to start worshiping Kate Moss of ’90.

remembertheredskins
12 years ago

Apparently, Kilmer took Brando’s comment as advice to gain weight. Brando is apparently Kilmer’s idea of what an actor’s career should be. The problem is, Kilmer never made a film as good as “On the Waterfront” when he was a young screen idol, and it’s hard to see a “Godfather” type comeback role for him.

Geo
Geo
12 years ago
Reply to  lebeau

Hate to say it LeBeau but I don’t think he cares. I wish that he did care, because he was a great actor, but I’m seeing a guy who’s given up completely. He does seem genuinely happy though, on some strange bloated level – hey, I’m overweight right now too so I can make jokes like that!

andymovieman
andymovieman
12 years ago

val kilmer is the most talented actor i have ever seen. despite all the criticism from directors like joel schumacher and the late john frankenheimer, val kilmer can make a movie great with his performance. schumacher ruined the batman movies with his innuendo. it’s all schumacher’s fault not val kilmer. val kilmer is still one of my favorite actors. batman forever, the saint, top gun, thunderheart, heat, willow, true romance, tombstone and deja vu are the best i’ve seen from val kilmer

Geo
Geo
12 years ago

My wife rented movies from RedBox last night, and I think we’ve seen just about everything watchable (and plenty unwatchable) that “the box” has to offer. So at this point we just randomly get a thriller/horror/sci-fi, and a kid/family movie. The thriller/horror in last night’s selection was none other than The Traveler, starring Val Kilmer. With that buildup, let me sum up the entire experience with one word: dud. This is the larger Val that we know and love. He appears in all black throughout the entire film. His acting is muted due to the strange, quiet character he plays,… Read more »

Kathleen
Kathleen
12 years ago
Reply to  Geo

Yeah, I happened upon this movie – The Traveler, one night on Netflix. I used to really like Val Kilmer’s work, so I thought I maybe hit upon a nugget! It was really lame, and I consider myself to have a pretty high tolerance for bad movies, especially when it has a favorite actor in it. I was shocked at his weight, and I thought that he just dead-panned the whole way through his character. I wonder if he had been able to inject a little more life into the character, if it would have livened up the movie a… Read more »

Geo
Geo
12 years ago
Reply to  Kathleen

“Kilmer has not been able to hold a pen for a number of years and has resorted to palm prints instead of autographs.”
Yes, cruel but hilarious.
Another favorite:
“Val really appreciates anything his fans are able to do, obviously he requires a great deal of food to keep going”

Geo
Geo
12 years ago
Reply to  Kathleen

“When contacted Kilmer only made a series of muffled sounds.”

Joke
Joke
12 years ago

Can’t tell if that was a joke or what about Basinger being written out of Batman Forever due to bad chemistry with Kilmer.
Basinger wasn’t in Batman Returns (1992) either — had she been written back into the series for Batman Forever (1995) in some early draft?

andymovieman
andymovieman
12 years ago

you know what val kilmer and michael keaton have in common besides batman? is that they both worked with ron howard and they are good friends with him.

andymovieman
andymovieman
12 years ago

you don’t see keaton working with howard that much. that’s for sure. keaton should work with howard again.

andymovieman
andymovieman
12 years ago

and so should kilmer.

andymovieman
andymovieman
12 years ago

so did i on jackie brown and out of sight. you never know.

andymovieman
andymovieman
12 years ago

keaton should work with tarantino and so should kilmer.

andymovieman
andymovieman
12 years ago

kilmer is still talented despite what idiots like schumacher and the late john frankenheimer say about him.

Geo
Geo
12 years ago

LeBeau, I think the HuffPost is trying to cash in on your gig. Here’s a Tara Reid WTHHT copycat if I’ve ever seen one:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/30/american-reunion-who-got-paid_n_988684.html?ncid=wsc-huffpost-cards-image

Geo
Geo
12 years ago
Reply to  lebeau

No, WTHHT is all yours LeBeau 😉
Now simply steal back and write about Tara Reid!
I like the fact that the HuffPost tells us all when a star loses its shine by way of a salary cut. I’m sure Tara Reid is thrilled to have that info go public.

RAM
RAM
12 years ago

Solid writing!

debra labarge
debra labarge
12 years ago

Everyone has troubles, have pity on those who have weight gain or other vices as you don’t know the reason. We all need support, no person is exempt.

tbob1
12 years ago
Reply to  debra labarge

I agree with your sentiments with one big however: wallowing in self pity and turning to drugs, food, sex, prescriptions, booze and a laundry list of other vices lies squarely at the feet of the individual. People can and do choose to deal with daily struggles in a healthy manner or not. Your troubles are your own as are your choices and the solutions. As you say; no person is exempt.

nutstomper5150
nutstomper5150
12 years ago

The Salton Sea is actually pretty good if you like tweaker movies like Spun and Requiem. Val’s tattoos in the movie are insane and he’s in shape.

Geo
Geo
12 years ago
Reply to  lebeau

Yea, was gonna say, it was probably filmed over a decade ago. That would have been Midway Val (we’re on post-Beached Val now).

Paul S
12 years ago

Tom Cruise is reportedly keen on making Top Gun 2.
Any chance of Val reprising the role of Iceman?

daffystardust
Editor
12 years ago

I just don’t see how they could include him in his current state without it being awkward and sad.
Of course the prospect of a Top Gun sequel 25 years later is kind of awkward and sad all on its own.

Andymovieman
Andymovieman
12 years ago

i cant wait to see top gun 2 soon.

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