Wyatt Earp offers a broadly scoped tale about the life of the immortal lawman, but it has nothing much to say about him.
Earp has earned his place in history for his law enforcement of Tombstone, Arizona which peaked at the legendary gun fight at the O. K. Corrall. Otherwise he had no major accomplishments which warrant a biopic of this length. As the film goes from scene to scene, Director Lawrence Kasdan tries to be objective and dramatically unmanipulative, unlike Tombstone. As a result, you feel like you are watching genuine pieces of history minus a feeling of emotional investment.
The first act of the film, starting with Earp as a boy and ending with the death of his first wife, could have been cut out completely. None of this material seems particularly meaningful. Wyatt Earp comes alive around the middle portion with the introduction of Doc Holiday. Filling his shoes is Dennis Quaid whose charisma steals the show and renders Kevin Costner an afterthought.
Costner himself is one of the movie's biggest problems. His Wyatt Earp is shamefully dull. It is as if he based his performance on the real mans bland facial expression in his few surviving photographs. What we end up with is a shell of a man who has no fire in his eyes, and he radiates all the stiff ghostliness of a century old mugshot. The movie builds some dramatic momentum toward the O.K. Corrall stand off. This is easily the best scene in the movie even though it lacks the fiery intensity of Tombstone's version.
Costumes, make-up and especially photography are all top notch but that's almost inevitable. With a bit of recasting, rewriting and a couple trims, this could have been a more memorable movie.
Earp has earned his place in history for his law enforcement of Tombstone, Arizona which peaked at the legendary gun fight at the O. K. Corrall. Otherwise he had no major accomplishments which warrant a biopic of this length. As the film goes from scene to scene, Director Lawrence Kasdan tries to be objective and dramatically unmanipulative, unlike Tombstone. As a result, you feel like you are watching genuine pieces of history minus a feeling of emotional investment.
The first act of the film, starting with Earp as a boy and ending with the death of his first wife, could have been cut out completely. None of this material seems particularly meaningful. Wyatt Earp comes alive around the middle portion with the introduction of Doc Holiday. Filling his shoes is Dennis Quaid whose charisma steals the show and renders Kevin Costner an afterthought.
Costner himself is one of the movie's biggest problems. His Wyatt Earp is shamefully dull. It is as if he based his performance on the real mans bland facial expression in his few surviving photographs. What we end up with is a shell of a man who has no fire in his eyes, and he radiates all the stiff ghostliness of a century old mugshot. The movie builds some dramatic momentum toward the O.K. Corrall stand off. This is easily the best scene in the movie even though it lacks the fiery intensity of Tombstone's version.
Costumes, make-up and especially photography are all top notch but that's almost inevitable. With a bit of recasting, rewriting and a couple trims, this could have been a more memorable movie.