Here's Val Kilmer in that delicately poised stage before he entered
'permanent chubby mode' and started knocking out stinkers. Everything about him
in this, like the conditions on Earth for life, is just right: the briefcase,
the mac, the slick hair, the beard (especially the beard), the walk (notice how
his legs actually speed up into the path of the oncoming car), and last but
certainly never not least the music. What this makes is a kick-ass opening
sequence with nowt but bare essentials – a long unbroken shot of a man walking
into a park.
So, how do you make a guy walking into a park look and feel
great on screen? Well, you give Val a positively smoking look about him and cue
those aggressive strings with a heavy beat, that's how. Note the snazzy camera
action on the pan and zoom-out from his face when he almost gets nearly run
over on purpose. He has the aura of a soul with an agenda, the attitude of
someone on the edge. I was rooting for him at the end, let me tell'ya. He was
in a tight situation, holed up in a bright sunny park waiting around for the phone
to ring. By the time he made a break for it he'd been shot, with cops and
dealers on his tail and his beautiful ex-wife waiting for him outside the open
door of her car so they could make a promising future afresh together. It was
nip and tuck if he would make it or not he was spilling so much money and
blood. I'd never wanted anyone to get into a car so much. It was a tense and
uplifting finale, I mean I was really like rooting for him, and for this
reason, alongside some touching split-screen make-up calls with his estranged
daughter (half the movie is telephone calls), I award Columbus Day 8.4 out of
10.
Our Val hasn't made a sterling performance like this since
he played an altar ego mirror reflection assuming the form of Elvis Presley in
True Romance (1996). Back then he uttered the immortal words, while pointing
and clicking his fingers, “I like you, Clarence. Always have, always will.”
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