THE STUNT DRIVER — Evel Knievel’s Biggest Hater

Review by Steve Barton II

The art of practical stunts has never gotten the respect and recognition that it deserves. These men and women put their lives on the line for the sake of authenticity and purely for our entertainment. A majority of these performers don’t get paid fairly for what they risk, often lack health insurance and get labeled as “crazy” or “cowardly” based on their track record. While this argument can and should be made about stunt performers in film and television, the new movie from Canadian writer/director Michael Dowse focuses more on the stunt men who did it for their own reputation and acclaim. The Stunt Driver follows Ken Carter (Jay Baruchel) the daredevil who attempted to jump his custom-made rocket car the St. Lawrence River from Canada to America. We get to see Ken and his team go through trials and tribulations in order to make history and cement his legacy forever.

Ken Carter is such an interesting character of a man that acts as a perfect subject for a movie. That’s also why during the planning and execution phases of this epic stunt, he had a documentary crew following him that ended up releasing a film titled The Devil at Your Heels. Ken had huge ideas and lofty ambitions, but he often contradicted himself by acting cowardly when the time came and never even obtained a driver’s license. Jay Baruchel studied that documentary and other pieces of footage to capture his aura and demeanor and he did so masterfully. In his past roles, Jay often plays a side character or a socially awkward guy who would never choose to be center stage. For The Stunt Driver, he certainly had to exit his comfort zone and embodies Ken through his acting and the incredible sets and costume designs.

Michael Dowse and much of his cast and crew are Canadians, so celebrating this legendary Canuck was an honor and privilege. To do so, they spent a lot of time finding the perfect locations and costumes to capture the 1970/80s time period. They also use older cameras and lenses to re-create the old documentary footage with a 1:33 square ratio in between shooting the normal 1:85 ratio for the narrative scenes with more of a theatrical framing. Having this visual change gives the film a unique style where we’re seeing the behind the scenes of the classic documentary and the real side of Ken that he isn’t playing up for the camera.

While the stunts themselves do look great and the cast is incredible, the overall movie is just okay. It’s truly a slow burn that's less about crazy stunts and more of a character study of the legendary stuntman Ken Carter. If the lofty dialogue scenes were broken up with more visual actions whether it’s more test montages or experimentations on car modifications, it’d be a stronger film in the end. Ed Helms as Dick Keller is a perfect opposite to Ken where he’s a calm and rational thinker trying his best to help his friend. Ben Foster in a small cameo as Evel Knievel and he played the braggadocious legend to a T and his attitude toward Ken only drives Ken to beat Knievel in any way possible. If seeing how some of the best legendary stunts were made into our insane reality, The Stunt Driver has you covered! 

The Stunt Driver hits theaters starting September 25th! 

Rating: 3.5/5