I love The Doors. I think they’re one of the greatest bands ever. Their music is haunting and their sound is unique. Jim Morrison is undoubtedly a genius, a poet with a really powerful voice.

Oliver Stone co-wrote and directed this biography of the band, which takes us through their short career, from their amazing rise to success to their end, but it’s mostly about Morrison, their charismatic leader. He’s played by Val Kilmer, who I usually dislike, but his interpretation of Morrison is awesome, he looks and sounds just the same as the real deal.

I don’t know what a Doors concert really was like, but from what the movie shows, it must have been an unforgettable experience. For its first half, the movie’s very enjoyable. It’s filled with brilliant music and it’s an interesting look at how Morrison saw life. But as the movie continues, it gets unpleasant to watch. Morrison gets obsessed with drugs, booze and sex, and he becomes an obnoxious individual. He’s an asshole to the people around him, whether it’s the other members of the band or his hippie girlfriend, played by Meg Ryan. We’re stuck in a long, disturbing journey through a man’s self destruction. At first it was just a continuing party, but it’s now a depressing sleaze fest involving all sorts of dope, sex and witchcraft.

So I loved the film as a rockumentary, but the private life of Morrison is less interesting. Some of that would have been okay, but it goes on for too long. Stone should have made his film tighter, like say, less than two hours. Still, “The Doors” is a generally entertaining movie with some riveting scenes, like the sequence scored with The End. Like I said, it could have been much better, but it’s an interesting film anyway.