Val Kilmer (December 31, 1959- April 1, 2025) is gone. While celebrities pass on, as do we all, sometimes a loss hits home harder than others. Why? It’s difficult to say. But for this filmgoer of a certain age, Kilmer was a part of that ’80s experience. He left an impression, and although his health issues of the past decade shortened his career, Kilmer put together a filmography of memorable performances that will last for decades to come.
Kilmer admirers have their camps. Some think first and foremost of his role in “Tombstone,” as Doc Holliday. Without Kilmer’s iconic performance as Holliday, would the film be considered the modern classic it is today? I don’t think so.
Others prefer their Kilmer, ice-cold. Ice, as in Lt. Tom “Iceman” Kazansky in 1986’s “Top Gun,” a role he’d reprise in 2022’s “Top Gun: Maverick,” his final onscreen performance.
Then there is “The Doors,” where Kilmer slipped effortlessly into the role of Jim Morrison. It’s the film that, when looked upon now, it’s difficult to believe Kilmer wasn’t nominated for an Oscar. The film, not a big box office hit, is now iconic, as in many of the films he starred or featured.
For me, the Kilmer I love is the comedian Kilmer. Straight out of the gate, his first two film roles were leads in two ’80s comedies, 1984’s “Top Secret,” and 1985’s “Real Genius.” Both films were box office duds. It’s hard to imagine that now, but it’s true. A spoof of war movies from the makers of “Airplane” wasn’t something people wanted to see. I went to the theater that summer and saw it with my sister. My first reaction was it wasn’t very funny, and I didn’t like the lead. Boy, did I call that one wrong.
“Real Genius” is a film I didn’t even want to see. It came to theaters and went within a week during the summer of 1985, part of a wave of science comedy films that came out that summer, along with “Weird Science” and “My Science Project.” All three films were duds, although “Weird Science” has since become part of the problematic John Hughes legacy and still holds a few inappropriate laughs.
After “Real Genius” had left my local Massachusetts multiplex, I caught an episode of “At the Movies” with Siskel and Ebert. They reviewed director Martha Coolidge’s science comedy and hailed it as one of the smartest, funniest films of the summer. I was shocked, and now I wanted to see this film I’d taken for granted.
Flash forward to the spring of 1986. My parents were watching HBO and began watching some film that had started 10 minutes or so earlier. Pretty soon, I was hooked on watching the film, something none of us knew what it was. It was hilarious and brilliant. The film was “Real Genius,” and it featured a brash, sassy, sarcastic, and star-making performance by Val Kilmer. I didn’t realize this was the same actor from “Top Secret.” My family must have watched “Real Genius” a dozen times over the months after. The movie still stands as one of my favorite comedies. Twenty years ago, a revival house held a screening of “Real Genius.” I went as a fan and expected maybe a handful of admirers would attend a frosty winter’s evening showing. The screening was a sell-out, with people dressed up as characters and cheering when certain people showed up on screen. Those who only know actor Jon Gries from his turn as Greg on “White Lotus” may be surprised to see a much longer-haired version of him appear in “Real Genius.”
Not a hard argument: Kilmer is the best part of Ron Howard’s 1988 film, “Willow” as the humorous warrior Madmartigan. To no fault of Kilmer’s, this film was another in a string of box office disappointments that plagued his early career, except “Top Gun,” where Kilmer had a supporting role.
“The Doors” pushed Kilmer into a more serious direction, and I was a bit sorry to see Kilmer shed his comedy roles in favor of the more serious brooding ones of “Batman Forever,” “The Saint,” and “Heat.” By now, I had discovered the pure genius of “Top Secret,” and Kilmer’s hilarious performance as Nick Rivers singing hits like “Skeet Surfing” and “Straighten the Rug.”
Prior to Kilmer’s cancer diagnosis and speech loss, he wasn’t in a lot of films. But in the 2000s, he put on a couple of iconic performances that I love. The first is in the criminally underseen “Salton Sea.” The film is a neo-noir with Kilmer as a man seeking his revenge for the murder of his wife at the hands of meth dealers. The second great Kilmer performance of the 2000s found him doing comedy again, as private detective “Gay” Perry van Shrike in the 2005 comedy noir, “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.” The film barely got a theatrical release (although I did catch it at a screening,) but it has since found a cult audience thanks to the career re-emergence of Robert Downey Jr. after “Iron Man.”
I rattled off a bunch of titles, and I’m sure people have their personal favorites, and maybe a Kilmer performance I didn’t list. I’ll have to reconcile the fact there will be no more Val Kilmer movies to come, but I take comfort that he left behind enough iconic roles for me to go back to and enjoy. Maybe tonight, I’ll straighten the rug.
James Kent is the arts editor at the Mountain Times.
