Val

I've been missing Val Kilmer & didn't know why he'd been absent. Now, I'm heartbroken for his struggle, & I appreciate him so very much. Bless him & all he has brought to us as a stunning dedicated actor.

This is clearly an emotional project for Val, as he looks back on his life and his career. It provides such an unique and intimate insight into his life.

A friend of a friend was Val Kilmer's personal assistant back in the 90s. She loved working for him and had the nicest things to say about him. I was always a little skeptical, because of his reputation. But this film matches every great thing she said about him. Really lovely and thoughtful. I haven't seen anything like this in a long time.

You infrequently see as honest a documentary as "Val," a life of Val Kilmer (Batman, Jim Morrison, et al.). In fact, because it is largely made up of his 40 years of self-videotaping, it has the feel of one of the most authentic autobiographies ever made. With his voice and his son, Jack's, it feels as if we are in his living room as they play the highlights of his glamorous career.

Although I was super pleased about Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain in its analysis of celebrity, Val crushes that doc with Kilmer's honest assessments of his life and his career without seemingly embellishing it or shaping it favorably. Bourdain's life has charm and a surface truth, but Val feels like Kilmer has let us into his soul for long enough to see a talented artist ceaselessly trying to interpret his chaotic world.

Although in his mature years he has suffered the loss of his voice from a procedure on his trachea for throat cancer, I can't find a word of bitterness that he has to stop his career and plug the hole in a voice box to talk, albeit scratchy and taking a while to get used to. He remains in his 60's searching the secrets of life, the best being honesty and love. Those are the two words to describe him and this doc.

For the more detail-desiring cinephiles less sentimental than I, this doc is full of off-camera insights: his longing to play Morrison and then his giving up his months' guitar practice to airplay the role, his confession that he couldn't act or move in that imprisoning Batman suit, his disappointment at the disastrous film The Island of Dr. Moreau and missing his chance to get close to his idol, Marlon Brando, his bonding as Iceman with Cruise, and so much more.

The footage of him arguing with director John Frankenheimer defines not so much Val's reputation for being difficult but rather his striving for perfection-A Juilliard grad, not a god.

Throughout this personal portrait of a star who fell from grace from bad choices (Willow, anyone?) and his own arrogance, Val Kilmer appreciates the gifts life has given him and its disappointments from which he becomes one of the most self-aware documentarians in his profession.

Val is a doc to be savored, and now that it is streaming on Prime, to be seen more than once. It's that good.

So touching. There's a lot to unpack in this documentary, and it's done so well. Especially if you're over forty, have gone through a divorce or possibly dealing with a chronic illness...shines a light of self reflection that so many of us can relate to. A reminder that regardless of fame and fortune, a man is still human and will undoubtedly experience the same collective gains and losses in this life that we all share; love, heartbreak, joy, grief, success, and failure. And inevitably, time.

Val's journey is captivating and it's so beautiful to hear it told through his words and his son's voice. He really bares his soul and sometimes it made me cry other times I had to laugh..but through it all I felt compelled to admire a man, that in so many ways and in so many amazing roles, has quite literally been part of the soundtrack of my life... and for what's it worth, he'll always be my Huckleberry.

Val, you're so loved. Thanks for letting your fans see the best part of you. Your heart.