Doc Holliday

I ran across this randomly I'd never heard of it. I figured.... why not? It wasn't good. Historically inaccurate, slow, and pretty goofy. The acting was ok nothing to write home about. Seemed like a made for TV movie that wasn't made for a good network. Maybe a USA network Saturday morning kind of movie.

I had not heard about this 2023 Western titled "Doc Holliday" prior to sitting down to watch it here in 2025. I stumbled upon the movie by random luck, and it did seem like an interesting enough Western, given its focus on John Henry Holliday, and thus I opted to give the movie a fair chance.

The storyline in the movie, however, was a bit sluggish, and the narrative suffered from that. Writer and director Brett Bentman seemed to take his sweet time going from A to B, but managing very little in the process. I have to admit that I was starting to zone out about halfway through, as there simply wasn't enough action or interesting storytelling going on.

The only face on the screen that I was familiar with was actor Billy Blair. I will say, though, that the acting performances in the movie were fair.

A good thing about the movie was that it definitely looked and felt like a Western movie. So thumbs up for the movie makers for accomplishing that.

"Doc Holliday" was a watchable enough movie, sure, but I am willing to bet that diehard Western fans will enjoy writer and director Brett Bentman's movie more than I did as a casual viewer. This is by no means a movie that I will return to watch a second time.

My rating of "Doc Holliday" lands on a generous four out of ten stars.

First, Zembrod's impersonation of Val Kilmer in Tombstone should have been left to Kilmer rather that Zembrod. Kilmer did a much better job. Next, "So Fun and Spot On" were I think, not part of the vernacular of the old west. Now, I believe, I counted 5 times when somebody was shot by a bullet from a gun that was facing up to the sky. Good trick. I will say this for Zembrod, his impersonation of a dentist was better than that oh Doc Holiday. As for Wyat Earp, PLEASE, Have Mercey, I hope I have made my point. The only good thing about it is that I did not have to pay to see it. Had I done so, I would have stopped watching movies. Watch at your own risk.

I didn't necessarily see Zembrod's Holiday as a copy of Val Kilmer. For me I saw more Dennis Quaid than Val. In fact when I first saw him and heard him speak Quaid immediately came to mind. Also had I saw a movie still of Zembrod at any point in this picture I would bet somebody's farm, not mine Lol, that it was Quaid. As far is his accent goes it reminds me more of Douglas Fowley from The Life and Times of Wyatt Earp TV show in the late '50s than VK's. Sure, it could have been better because all portrayals are now stacked up against Kilmer's. For the most part I like "almost" all Holiday portrayals over the decades, including this one, even though a number of scripts took liberties on real events and people.

This is not a terrible movie, but could have been better. The biggest problem is that the actor playing Doc is not playing Doc, he's playing Val Kilmer playing Doc. Not sure if this was the actors decision or the directors, but it was the wrong decision. The story is ok, a little slow at times but all in all not bad, the score is pretty cool and the drab scenery fits in well with the story line. It's important to remember that this is not a remake of tombstone, but a prequel and the way it ends, leading right up to the start of Tombstone is also pretty cool. Again, not terrible but not great either. 5/10.