The Stunt Man (1980) Richard Rush

Peter O'Toole ... Eli Cross
Steve Railsback ... Cameron
Barbara Hershey ... Nina Franklin
Allen Garfield ... Sam (as Allen Goorwitz)
Alex Rocco ... Police Chief Jake
Sharon Farrell ... Denise
Adam Roarke ... Raymond Bailey

Critically acclaimed films aren't always successful at the box office, and I remember first seeing this the week it was released in a near empty theater. I was a film student at the time, and thought nothing could be better than a film about the making of a film. Up to that time, Turffaut's "Day for Night" (1973) was arguably the best of the genre. In my opinion this film equals it... and maybe tops it.

The film opens with a hilarious scene of a dog doing its thing, and we're simultaneously introduced to Cameron. Steve Railsback is wonderful in his portrayal of a jittery and jumpy Vietnam veteran who is on the run from the police. As he's running a stunt man is killed, and circumstances shortly after land Cameron in the middle of the film set. He's saved and trapped at the same time - saved from the grasp of the cops, but trapped into working as the deceased stunt man's replacement. He was nominated for a Golden Globe award for best new star.

Peter O'Toole won a best actor award from the National Society of Film Critics, and was nominated for an Academy Award and for a Golden Globe for his portrayal of a director who is searching as he shoots. This is one of his best roles ever, as the brash and bossy Eli Cross who is hard as nails but with a heart of gold. Or so we think at first... But as the film progresses we wonder, as does Cameron, if the finished film is more important to Eli than the life of a stunt man, and whether he'll allow Cameron's fate to follow the fate of the man he's pretending to be.

Barbara Hershey is sweet, sassy, and fabulous in her role as Nina, the lively leading lady who falls for Cameron. At times we don't understand their attraction for one another, but nonetheless they are drawn together, and we find ourselves pulling for them.

The film questions reality versus false perceptions, and we the audience are often taken for a ride. At times we are privy to the workings of a film in progress, first seeing what an audience would see at the end, then finding out that what we are really seeing is a movie in making. But it's not just the movie being made that misleads us, but the movements and motivations of the characters outside of their jobs. Who's doing what to whom, why, and what's going to happen next? On the surface this is a very funny film, but underneath it all this is an interesting psychological drama that questions what moves us, and why we allow ourselves to be moved in different ways.

There's never a dull moment as this film moves along, filled with snappy dialog, great stunt sequences, lots of laughs, and many, many memorable lines.

Richard Rush made a masterpiece. He was nominated, in his role as director, for outstanding achievement by the Director's Guild, as well as for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe,
Along with these honors, he was nominated, with Lawrence B. Marcus, for the following screenplay awards: a Writer's Guild of America award, a Golden Globe, and of course, an Oscar.
He won an award at the Montreal World Film Festival.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081568/

English... no subtitles

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