Kilmer's documentary as one person's attempt to try to be honest with us the audience about what their life was and how it quantified itself and who they'd like us to see them as in “Val” can sometimes ring hollow, pale, and underwhelming at points. There are many moments that betray it as a piece of work that tries very hard to convince us of who Val Kilmer thinks he is, but is in that very last sentiment as contextualized by an actor searching for meaning in things, (and of them from within a documentary) in combination with its very personal look into the mental struggles of actors as people who are in constant need of validation that “Val” finds immense power and is endlessly fascinating in a way that many docs are not. Haunting every single inclination in this narrative of what Val Kilmer wants to convince us of is this longing and sense of dread (that grows as the movie goes along ) that he’s not connected to the thing which he most desires in his heart. It is no small thing to acknowledge the vastness of capability self doubt has to harm actors careers both before and after they are established. Working consistently in an industry that holds validation like so much treasure it becomes imperative at times that you carry yourself with an exaggerated sense of surety around your abilities. In my experience actors who were assured of themselves and their ability despite all logic pointing to the opposite, to a point of delusion in fact, went further than actors who have all the talent in the world but did not feel assured in who they are and in what they brought to the table. Peter Kass's words, contextualized another way say to me that Val Kilmer the actor, and Val Kilmer the person never trusted that either was enough, so, much like he did in that monologue he has constantly resorted to creating all these exaggerated and performative over corrections to a non issue. In essence Val Kilmer is an extremely gifted actor, arguably the most talented of his generation who because he was insecure about that ability, because he never felt his work to the extent the apocryphal stories around his heroes like Brando made myth the work - over worked constantly, trying to “act” his way into the pantheon of the actors that molded him. I see it as much in his choices here as in his career. Whether in conversation about his brother, or his bits on other actors, “Val” (in terms that maybe the doc itself doesn't understand) is the story of a man who couldn't reconcile the fact that he was in fact a character, natural born type, he need only breathe and be, that the next Marlon Brando was beneath him to even try, because it was beneath his truth. He claims at the beginning of the documentary to have understood that there is no such thing as a small role, but there is a palpable sense of regret and covetousness to the way that he talks about Tom Cruise. As with the lesson Mr. Kass tried to impart upon him, it’s likely he never really internalized that idea that there is no such thing as a small role, it’s merely something he said to avoid actively looking into the truth of that statement. So much about acting is choices both in your actual work and about the work as in the business. A video from Will Smith's YouTube channel has been making the rounds and it speaks exactly to his acumen while demonstrating a self awareness that made Will Smith Will Smith, and Val Kilmer Val Kilmer in juxtaposition, hell it even involves Val..
