Tom Dicillo's 'When You're Strange' is Unflattering for Jim Morrison, but Offers No New Insight
- by David Hinckley
The reasons to watch filmmaker Tom DiCillo's new documentary on the Doors lie more in the small pictures than the big one. Don't watch it, for instance, hoping to learn whether their late lead singer, Jim Morrison, was a cosmic prophet or just another rock star burnout.
DiCillo admits he can't answer that one, and that's okay. He's not the first Doors biographer to hit the wall there, and it may be that no single Doors or Morrison summation will ever capture the whole scope of their complex lives.
DiCillo offers more a chronological trip through moments in their 54-month career, from the infamous indecency bust in Miami to dozens of seemingly ordinary scenes that range from a moody Morrison drinking in his room to odd shots of people diving into a swimming hole and an occasional rehearsal scene.
