# Val Kilmer v. Jamie Foxx **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 28, 2005, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/val-kilmer-v-jamie-foxx/287191 "2005-01-28T21:39:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kel\_Varnsen\_Latex\_Division](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/aeb1de/32.png) [@Kel\_Varnsen\_Latex\_Division](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kel_Varnsen_Latex_Division)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/val-kilmer-v-jamie-foxx/287191/1 "2005-01-28T21:39:25Z")
Why is Jamie Foxx getting so such credit for his acting in _Ray_ in comparison to the credit Val Kilmer got for his acting in _The Doors_. They totally transformed themselves into the person they were playing. Is it because Jim Morrison was such a complete tool and you jsut don’t get that much credit for playing a tool? ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/val-kilmer-v-jamie-foxx/287191/2 "2005-01-28T21:55:09Z")
I think the main thing is that _The Doors_ as a movie does not tell a compelling story. Morrison isn’t particularly sympathetic, the impact they made musically is obscure, the way he’s positioned as some sort of rebel-poet-free expressionist is unconvincing, and the movie itself is a total mess. Val does the best he can (and is helped by the physical similarity), but he’s given very little to work with. _Ray_ as a movie is incredibly overrated (and certainly not deserving of a Picture nod), but the focus of the film is Ray’s life, from the adversity he faced to the conflicts he fueled, from the trouble he often created for himself to the principled stands that he’d take. Stone’s film is as much about the hippie culture as about the band, while Hackford’s film is always singularly about the artist. Consequently, Foxx is given more to do, with meatier scenes and more demonstrative character arcs, and he delivers on all counts. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/val-kilmer-v-jamie-foxx/287191/3 "2005-01-28T22:05:52Z")
Sounds like a subjective and time-dependent criticism to me. I remember Val Kilmer getting lots and lots of props for his amazing portrayal of Morrison. I remember magazine articles gushing about his “channeling” and “becoming” Morrison and quoting remaining Doors members who were working on the soundtrack saying they were unable to tell which were Morrison’s vocal tracks and which were Kilmer’s. He really was fooking amazing. Whenever I picture Jim Morrison in my head, it’s Val Kilmer’s face I see. There was the customary and expected Oliver Stone revisionist-historian-bashing, but everything I heard and read of Kilmer’s performance was raving. ---
**Author:** ![Kel\_Varnsen\_Latex\_Division](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/aeb1de/32.png) [@Kel\_Varnsen\_Latex\_Division](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kel_Varnsen_Latex_Division)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/val-kilmer-v-jamie-foxx/287191/4 "2005-01-28T22:13:33Z")
Sure get got some “props” but no awards. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/val-kilmer-v-jamie-foxx/287191/5 "2005-01-28T22:28:34Z")
The fact that Foxx performed a much more difficult role - not just playing a blind guy, but actually being blind for hours a day - may be a factor. Playing as much piano as he did may be considered more challenging than doing a Jim Morrison impersonation. I think **ArchiveGuy** is onto something as far as the story arc of _Ray_ goes, and as far as the impact on American music - Ray Charles vs. Jim Morrison? Forget it. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/val-kilmer-v-jamie-foxx/287191/6 "2005-01-28T22:31:50Z")
> [@Kel Varnsen - Latex Division](#): > > Sure get got some “props” but no awards. Good point. I haven’t seen _Ray_, so I have no informed opinion on Foxx’s performance or whether it is worthy of awards. But I’m spectacularly underwhelmed at the other Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations this year. But I generally see awards as political maneuvering and prom queen contests, not actual recognition of outstanding work. Why hasn’t Kilmer ever been nominated for Prom Queen? Who knows. Maybe he pissed the wrong people off. He doesn’t seem like the easiest guy in the world to get along with. In most interviews, he comes off as barking mad or really high. But very hot. ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/val-kilmer-v-jamie-foxx/287191/7 "2005-01-28T22:46:38Z")
> [@](#): > > Why is Jamie Foxx getting so such credit for his acting in Ray in comparison to the credit Val Kilmer got for his acting in The Doors. … Or Johnny Depp’s portrayal of Hunter S. Thompson, though I understand why that movie isn’t nearly as accessible as the other two… ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2005, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/val-kilmer-v-jamie-foxx/287191/8 "2005-01-28T23:14:17Z")
It’s worth pointing out that _The Doors_ had it’s U.S. release in late February/early March, while _Ray_ wwas in limited release much later in the year (October) in a clear and somewhat cynical attempt to rack up nominations. Personally, I think the system should be changed so a film has to be shown in at least ten major cities all through the month of December to qualify for a nomination. It’s getting to the point where any movie released in the last week of the year jams “Oscar Worthy” into their advertising like a particularly ill-fitting monkey wrench, and yet most of the general public can’t even see it because it’s only playing in some out-of-the-way art houses. ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2005, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/val-kilmer-v-jamie-foxx/287191/9 "2005-01-29T01:45:05Z")
> [@](#): > > It’s getting to the point where any movie released in the last week of the year jams “Oscar Worthy” into their advertising like a particularly ill-fitting monkey wrench, It’s also getting to the point where nobody gives a damn about the Oscars, so I imagine things will even out in time.