Throughout his life and career Val Kilmer has been documenting his experiences on video camera. Documentarians Ting Poo and Leo Scott have taken that footage and worked with Val to try and give a portrayal of his life and his motivations. The result is a beautiful, fascinating insight into his life. Albeit one that shies away from the reported difficult aspects of his character. 

Val is a special film for anyone interested in acting, film or more specifically Kilmer’s career. But it is also one that very much acts as a nostalgic memoir controlled by the actor them-self, keeping controversy at arms length. For those unaware Kilmer is recovering from throat cancer, a disease that has taken his voice and requires him to now speak through a tube in his throat. Now his matinee good lucks are behind him and his likelihood of being a leading man are in the past he is philosophical about his life and in need of creating a film that tells his story. When the narration of the film began shortly after starting I was baffled how I could be hearing Val talk as though at the height of his career before the camera pans to his son Jack speaking his words. Later we will also see his daughter Mercedes and see him dote on both of them now and as children in home footage. 

Throughout the film there are fascinating insights to his life. The tragic story of the death of his younger brother Wesley at age fifteen, something that would stay with him his whole life. The differing relationships with his father who once bankrupted him and his mother who we see him grieving after her death in 2019. His obsession with acting and the craft of it including his hopes and dreams to portray Hamlet in his early career and Mark Twain in his later career. There are also exciting glimpses of him on set on the likes of The Doors, Tombstone, Top Gun and The Island Of Dr. Moreau. The footage of his early life is amazing given that film cameras were not as prevalent and the idea of recording so much of your life and storing that footage seems completely alien for the time. 

Whilst watching the film I was enraptured by how emotionally honest everything on screen was but as it came to a close I wanted more. The curse of having complete access to your subject and they and their children being involved in the making of the film is that the controversies are swept under the carpet. Kilmer’s divorce is brushed over quickly with no mention of the lawsuits brought against him by his wife, his behaviour on set is passed off as his commitment to the craft and his illness and recovery is only briefly discussed. I also was left wanting for more on set footage especially from Dr. Moreau, a film notorious for the bad behaviour of its stars including Kilmer. 

But despite all of those omissions this is still a beautiful must watch film for anyone interested in film.