Dir. Richard Rush
Starring
Peter O'Toole
Steve Railsback
Barbara Hershey
Rated R - 1980 - 131 mins
If this movie was a sport, I'd call it NASCAR. If this movie was on Wall Street, it would be the stock market. And, if this movie was a drug, it would most definitely be cocaine. Sometimes a movie will creep up on you, like that up hill part at the beginning of a roller coaster; "The Stunt Man" is that kind of a movie.
"The Stunt Man" is one of those "movies about making movies"...movie. Which, when done correctly, can be a lot of fun. Well, the twist in this film is that Cameron (Steve Railsback), a Vietnam vet on the run from the law, quite literally stumbles into a big budget film being shot by Eli Cross (Peter O'Toole). A recent death of the lead stunt man on the film set gives Cross the unique position to compromise Cameron into becoming his new stunt man in exchange for hiding him from the law.
Cross is intrigued by the mysterious background of the war veteran/drifter, and seems to love psychologically toying with him, and other crew members, in order to get the reactions for the film being shot. You get the impression that Cross, a sweet talking megalomaniac, only cares about one thing: getting the right shot on film.
The story is constantly going back and forth between the World War One movie being filmed and the real world of cameramen, make up artists, stunt men and all. The film has a strong theme of "what is reality?" There are also a bunch of allusions in the film to things like "Alice and Wonderland", and biblical stories, so if you enjoy that extra meat in a story you'll get a kick out of this one. You REALLY feel the up and down ride of the story. Is Cross willing to kill this stunt man for the perfect take? Is the lead actress in love with Cameron, or is it a front for the movie? By the end of the film your head is (rightfully so) spinning. But somehow I didn't find myself angry or frustrated at the story, I just enjoyed the ride.
I would strongly recommend this to those who enjoyed films such as "Day for Night", "8 1/2" or "Living in Oblivion".
ACTING - 7 (O'Toole is GREAT, every one else...eh. Cameron reminded of Mark Hamil)
STORY - 9
LOOK - 7
