THE MESMERIZING, VISIONARY, DEEPLY SILLY BIOPIC, NOW ON HULU, TURNS JIM MORRISON INTO A MYTHIC FIGURE — AND RECALLS A BYGONE ERA WHEN ROCK STARS WERE THE CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE

All day they tramped around town: the movie star with slicked-back hair and the bespectacled musician who had once been famous. The star was Saturday Night Fever and Grease actor John Travolta—still, in the summer of 1980, a disco princeling hotter than a thousand raging suns. The musician, and Travolta's guide around Los Angeles that long, sweltering afternoon, was Ray Manzarek of The Doors.

Val Kilmer has delivered many memorable acting performances over the course of his long and storied career. Ranging from Top Gun to his portrayal of Bruce Wayne in Batman Forever, Kilmer has a diverse filmography and the latest addition to his oeuvre was a very well-received 2021 documentary titled Val which featured unseen footage recorded by the actor himself.

Val Kilmer is one of the most talented performers of his era, and while his career did not play out like many would have predicted, the truth is that the man had plenty of successful films back in his prime. His time playing Batman saw him alongside Nicole Kidman and Jim Carrey, while Top Gun had him alongside Tom Cruise. Kilmer did it all in his prime, and he forged an interesting legacy.