Wyatt Earp

WYATT EARP (12)

D: Lawrence Kasdan

Warner Bros./Tig (Jim Wilson, Kevin Costner & Lawrence Kasdan)

US 1994

189 mins

Western

W: Dan Gordon & Lawrence Kasdan

DP: Owen Roizman

Ed: Carol Littleton

Mus: James Newton Howard

PD: Ida Random

Kevin Costner (Wyatt Earp), Dennis Quaid (Doc Holliday), Gene Hackman (Nicholas Earp), David Andrews (James Earp), Linden Ashby (Morgan Earp), Jim Cavaziel (Warren Earp), Jeff Fahey (Ike Clanton), Joanna Going (Josie Marcus), Isabella Rossellini (Big Nose Kate)

It was a harsh criticism of Kevin Costner's staid, unemotional performance as the legendary lawman in this biopic and especially unfair that he won a Razzie for Worst Actor of 1994. There were plenty of worse performances the same year (see Milstead Movie Awards for my personal picks).

It's true that the film is overlong, spanning Earp's life like an old David Lean epic, but the handsome photography makes it a far easier watch. Costner, far from awful, is still most definitely upstaged by the rest of the cast, especially Dennis Quaid as Doc Holliday.

Tombstone (qv) released a year earlier, presents a more bite-sized version of the same story, but Wyatt Earp is by far the more meticulously produced of the two films.

6/10