Despite not being appreciated fully upon release in 1993, Tombstone‘s presence on streaming has allowed it to be reevaluated as a true classic of the Western genre. Val Kilmer’s performance has attracted particular acclaim, and Doc Holliday is now widely regarded as one of his greatest onscreen roles.
Beyond Kilmer’s career alone, it’s no exaggeration to claim that Tombstone‘s Doc Holliday stands among the very best antiheroes of the Western genre. The outlaw-ish nature of the Wild West has always lent itself well to great antiheroes, with John Wayne and Clint Eastwood (the latter especially) playing a number of them over the course of their careers. Between them, Wayne and Eastwood helped to define what a Western antihero looked like, but Tombstone‘s Doc Holliday completely broke that mold.
One Scene In Tombstone Proves Doc Holliday Was A Different Kind Of Antihero
Clint Eastwood’s The Man with no Name remains the most iconic antihero in Western movies, and perhaps even across the whole of cinematic history. Even so, the actor is also famous for portraying the likes of Josey Wales in The Outlaw Josey Wales and the Stranger in High Plains Drifter. John Wayne typically played more outwardly heroic protagonists, but nevertheless gave timeless antihero performances in The Searchers, The Ringo Kid, and Red River.
Eastwood and Wayne had very different sensibilities as the two leading names in Western movies, and each actor crafted their own vision for onscreen antiheroes. Even so, a set of shared traits was established. Wayne and Eastwood’s rugged badasses would be no-nonsense, straight-talking types who, if insulted, would respond with a quick punch to the face or a calm and chilling threat. These were characters who never suffered fools gladly, and never let a challenge from a rival go unmet.
Tombstone‘s Doc Holliday may be as iconic as Eastwood and Wayne’s antiheroes, but was cut from very different cloth. The scene that highlights it best is the very first interaction between Kilmer’s character and Michael Biehn’s Johnny Ringo. Reacting to Holliday’s reputation as a gunslinger, Ringo confidently strolls up and puts on a deft display of pistol trickery, spinning and flipping his weapon with ease.
At this point, most antiheroes would either challenge Ringo to a real gunfight, slap him on the mouth, or call him an idiot for treating weapons like juggling balls. Doc Holliday adopts a very different approach, mockingly copying Ringo with an exaggerated version of the same trick using a cup instead of a gun, sending the room into raucous laughter.
Doc Holliday’s Humor Is What Makes Kilmer’s Tombstone Performance Unique
The scene demonstrates Doc Holliday’s sense of humor and comic timing, but also an ability to not take himself seriously – traits that are usually millions of miles from Western antiheroes. The closest Eastwood and Wayne’s antiheroes came would be the odd smart quip sneaking out the corner of their mouths.
More significantly, Holliday is almost taking the high road in this scene. An outright hero would probably walk away instead of riling Johnny Ringo up, but Holliday still diffuses the danger with humor and avoids an aggressive response. The situation is deescalated, and a fight averted, even if Holliday seems to know he and Ringo will cross paths down the line.
An antihero with these traits is a cinematic contradiction. Very few actors could play a character with both the aura of an antihero and a propensity to be silly when the occasion arises, and this is what makes Val Kilmer’s performance truly special. Somehow, he offsets the flamboyance and ridiculousness of Holliday with a quiet intimidation that can be felt more than seen. How Kilmer walks the impossible line between a class clown and a living demon of the Wild West without unduly ruining Tombstone‘s overall tone is a minor miracle.
- Release Date
-
December 25, 1993
- Runtime
-
130 minutes
- Director
-
George P. Cosmatos
- Writers
-
Kevin Jarre
- Producers
-
Bob Misiorowski, James Jacks