Review of The Stunt Man (1980) by Kevin M — 17 Jan 2009

Most movies about movies end up as masturbatory back-patting sessions. Here, Richard Rush uses his masterpiece "The Stunt Man" as a dissertation of metaphysics, using Peter O' Toole as God and Steve Railsback, looking as Manson-like as ever, as a hapless Everyman.

Sure, Vietnam factors into the equation, but what is that war if not a metaphor for futility? The struggles on the set figure into the eternal struggle relating to expertise versus identity. O' Toole, as megalomeniacal director Eli Cross, dips in and out of the frame at opportune times via a floating crane or helicopter, and is always abreast of rumors, motivations, and possible reactions to his pervasive insanity.

That this was made totally independently and distributed in only a handful of theatres once it was finally dumped off the shelf by Melvin Simon Productions is both tragic and inevitable. That the film is available at all is a miracle.

The opening sequence doesn't even have anything to do with filmmaking; it's simply a chain reaction of reactions relating to the paranoia of snap judgments. The theme carries through in spades.

Barbara Hershey in her prime does not hurt, even if she can't carry the line "I am the movies" as much as she should.