For a long time, Val Kilmer had a reputation as a “difficult” actor. Stories of clashes between him and Joel Schumacher on the set of “Batman Forever” and of Kilmer going violently off-script during his film auditions didn’t help in that regard. But anyone who’s seen the Prime Video documentary “Val” should immediately recognize that things were much more complex than “Val Kilmer was a difficult actor.”

The moving doc painted a portrait of the late star as a true artist who searched for meaning in everything he did and turned in some unforgettable performances in the process. For many, those performances likely include Doc Holliday in George P. Cosmatos’ legendary 1993 Western “Tombstone” and Chris Shiherlis in Michael Mann’s seminal 1995 crime thriller “Heat” (of which Kilmer had some incredible memories). Meanwhile, a whole generation remembers Kilmer as their Batman, and to this day, he remains the most criminally overlooked cinematic Dark Knight in the character’s on-screen history.

What many won’t remember, however, is that, much like his Batman predecessor Michael Keaton, Kilmer was also one of the best comedy actors of the 1980s. In “Val,” the actor recalls (via a voiceover read by his son) how Hollywood “came calling” after he graduated from Juilliard. The young up-and-comer was then cast in the rock opera spy thriller parody “Top Secret!” — which he summarily described as “fluff”. But it was more than that. It showcased Kilmer’s diverse talent on about as big a stage as possible, and when he followed it up by playing Chris Knight in Martha Coolidge’s “Real Genius,” that talent became simply undeniable.

“Real Genius” isn’t just one of the best Val Kilmer movies, it’s one of the best, most overlooked ’80s comedies in general. If you were a youngster in the mid-’80s and saw a trailer that introduced itself with the line, “When the military runs short on brains, they go hunting at Pacific Tech,” you’d probably be pretty excited. As you should; “Real Genius” was exactly the kind of lovably absurd yet sincere and heartfelt movie that made the decade such an unforgettable moment in cultural history.

The 1985 film was directed by Martha Coolidge, who’d previously helmed the 1983 rom-com “Valley Girl” and 1984 sex comedy “The Joy of Sex,” among others. With “Real Genius,” she helped establish Kilmer as a star. The actor starred as Chris Knight, a student in his senior year at the aforementioned science and engineering university. When he’s paired with new student Mitch Taylor (​​Gabriel Jarret), the duo create a chemical laser technology, only for CIA stooge professor Jerry Hathaway (William Atherton) to co-opt their creation for the military. The anti-authority Knight isn’t having any of it, however, and together with Taylor, he sets out to put a stop to the military’s nefarious plans.

Kilmer is a big part of what makes the movie’s zany antics so great. The Juilliard grad seemed to emerge from the halls of that esteemed institution fully formed and willing to devote his considerable talent to comedic roles that he likely hadn’t set out to play. Aside from that, the plot of “Real Genius” is just so lovably silly that it will simultaneously entertain and make you sort of sad that films like this don’t really get made any more (and when they do, they’re not handled quite as well).

Sure, “Real Genius” is a silly comedy about high-powered lasers, completely implausible military conspiracies, and oddball, lovable teen prodigies. But it’s also about that delicate time when the idealism of youth is in danger of being eradicated by our transition to adulthood, and at the core of the movie is a good-hearted message about maintaining our spirit of optimism into our adult years. Given its hopeful tone, then, it’s not all that surprising that “Real Genius” was a modest commercial success for its time.

What’s more, “Real Genius” received positive reviews from critics. The movie bears a 77% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes at the time of writing, with Roger Ebert having been particularly impressed by the movie’s “conviction that the American campus contains life as we know it.” The renowned critic also praised Martha Coolidge for allowing the film’s characters to be themselves rather than clones of more well-known comedic creations and was seemingly quite taken with the movie’s resulting originality.

So, while “Real Genius” might not be remembered as one of the greatest ’80s comedies alongside “Big” or the similarly science-focused “Back to the Future” (which opened in theaters the same year as Kilmer’s film), it’s more than worth a look. Not only is it an overlooked comedy of the decade, it’s also an underrated movie in Kilmer’s filmography (which soon took a more serious turn following his casting as Iceman in “Top Gun” the following year).