# RIP Val Kilmer **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [April 2, 2025, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-val-kilmer/1016494 "2025-04-02T04:16:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2025, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-val-kilmer/1016494/41 "2025-04-02T15:15:12Z")
I have heard pneumonia referred to as “the terminal patients friend”. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2025, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-val-kilmer/1016494/42 "2025-04-02T15:27:12Z")
RIP. His video biography [Val](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14731254/?ref_=fn_all_ttl_1) is worth a watch. I have his audiobook on my wait list, it’s going to be a different listening experience after today. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2025, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-val-kilmer/1016494/43 "2025-04-02T15:30:30Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > (Although I’ve _heard_ that he actually says “I’m your huckle bearer”, a huckle referring to the handles on a casket. Urban Dictionary says that’s nonsense) Went down this rabbit hole some years back, and it is indeed nonsense. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2025, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-val-kilmer/1016494/44 "2025-04-02T16:11:55Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > He reunited with Davis on “Life’s Too Short,” in full self-parody mode. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/-rF_MDb03dA/hqdefault.jpg "Life's Too Short - Val Kilmer as Batman") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rF_MDb03dA) > [@Alessan](#): > > I wouldn’t call that a small role. He was the third-billed actor in the cast, with plenty of screen time and possibly the most poignant scene in the movie (when he comes home to his wife at the end, realizes that the cops are waiting for him, and drives off). It’s a substantial role but he does disappear before the final act in the scene that you mention. It is even more poignant that his wife (played by Ashley Judd) waves him off of the police trap even at risk to herself: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/O3eEKnDK7Kw/maxresdefault.jpg "HEAT - Chris' wife sends signal") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3eEKnDK7Kw) That film, more than any other Michael Mann movie, really does a good job of creating very deep characterizations of its supporting players. > [@ftg](#): > > Apparently he developed a reputation for being difficult to work with, which didn’t really derail his career. He got pretty sidelined in the late ‘Nineties as he got a reputation for being difficult and unreliable. John Frankenheimer, who took over directing duties for the 1996 _The Island of Dr. Moreau_, described working with Kilmer by saying, [“I don’t like his work ethic and I don’t want to be associated with him ever again.”](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4n7xy3ew8mo), and this was on a film where the famously problematic Marlon Brando refused to talk to the director face-to-face and often took out his earpiece so he couldn’t hear instructions, and you really have to be a special kind of asshole to upstage the off-stage dramatics of Brando. He did have a resurgence with _Kiss Kiss Bang Bang_ (along with a then-uninsurable Robert Downey Jr.) which didn’t make much money but was well regarded, and he had some good critical notices in _The Salton Sea_ and as a post-peak porn star in _Wonderland_ about the 1980 Wonderland Drive murders but he mostly did a lot of bit parts and direct-to-video crap since then, as well as a one-man show as Mark Twain. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2025, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-val-kilmer/1016494/45 "2025-04-02T16:22:17Z")
> [@icon](#): > > He also had a small role in Heat as well which is mostly forgotten since it is dominated by Pacino and De Niro. Strange, I thought it was the reverse. I always found that the movie largely fell apart by the end because who cares about Pacino and De Niro’s out-of-left-field, unexplained co-dependency on another person they had coffee with once for five minutes after Kilmer drives away from his wife to ruin their lives for no good reason. The opening scene and Kilmer’s scenes were great cinema. The serial killer angle seemed like an unnecessary addition, and the whole pillar of the film rested on the audience bringing a lot of Pacino/De Niro’s baggage on with them from watching old gangster movies on repeat every day, and ignoring what was actually shown in the film itself. They’d have done better to call the end after Kilmer drove off. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2025, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-val-kilmer/1016494/46 "2025-04-04T21:42:42Z")
A post was merged into an existing topic: [65 Mustang Trock Posts](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/65-mustang-trock-posts/1016649/27) ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2025, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-val-kilmer/1016494/47 "2025-04-02T18:03:47Z")
RIP Val. ☹ > [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > He died from pneumonia? Who dies from that anymore? My father and my uncle. > [@On another topic](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1016651/165): > > Supporting actor in Heat but that bank robbery scene is great. Maybe Micheal Mann should get the credit, but the look of determination on his face was incredible to me. Heck yeah! ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2025, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-val-kilmer/1016494/48 "2025-04-02T18:04:50Z")
> [@Lucas\_Jackson](#): > > My father and my uncle. Were they 65 or younger? ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2025, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-val-kilmer/1016494/49 "2025-04-02T18:10:20Z")
Yes, my uncle was a manly guy - by all appearances very fit. Late 40s, took him fast. My dad was was in his mid 60s - lingering. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2025, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-val-kilmer/1016494/50 "2025-04-02T18:50:46Z")
Brando and Kilmer in _The Island of Dr. Moreau_ is of course legendary. 23% at RT. So that’s 12% for Brando, 11% for Kilmer? ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2025, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-val-kilmer/1016494/51 "2025-04-03T01:37:49Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > RIP. His video biography [Val](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14731254/?ref_=fn_all_ttl_1) is worth a watch. Came in here just to mention this. It was really unique, and far exceeded my expectations. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2025, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-val-kilmer/1016494/52 "2025-04-03T04:02:35Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Brando and Kilmer in _The Island of Dr. Moreau_ is of course legendary. Heh, the movie wasn’t exactly legendary, IMHO. I will second _Wonderland, Salton Sea_ and _Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang_ as well worth your time. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-val-kilmer/1016494.md?page=2)