Val Kilmer has not had much luck in recent years. Ever since
Red Planet fizzled on screen, he has been put on the
back burner. Since that disappointing sci-fi film, he has leaned toward more intelligent films. He delivered a stunning performance in
The Salton Sea, but how many of you have heard of that one? His latest 2004 movie,
Spartan, received generally good reviews but the studio refused to market it - it was gone in a matter of weeks. Then there''s
Wonderland - and you say, what the hell is that?
Kilmer turns in yet another dazzling performance as real-life porn star John Holmes, a man who is past his prime and who has fallen into the world of drugs and crime. Troubled to the bone, he is torn between trying to be the man that he wants to be and the man that he is. Kilmer, though forced to share the screen with a lot of other players, exudes excellence in every scene that he appears in.
The plot of the story is set around the events that took place on July 1, 1981, when police discovered an absolutely gruesome quadruple homicide at 8763 Wonderland Avenue in Laurel Canyon. As the detectives began investigating, they uncovered a seedy world of crime that involved an ex-con (Dylan McDermott), a rich nightclub owner (Eric Bogosian) and Mr. Holmes. As the police received conflicting reports of what truly happened, it became clear that the only person who could straighten everything out was Holmes, but he might be the one that is responsible for it all in the first place...