Review of The Stunt Man (1980) by Nicholas V — 20 Sep 2007

Richard Rush's 1980 masterpiece could have become the thinking-man's blockbuster if 20th Century Fox could have marketed it properly and knew what to do with it. As it stands now, it is a film that is as relevant now as it was then, mainly because it is a one-of-a-kind movie that looks at movie making in a whole new light.

As the movie opens, Cameron (Steve Railsback) is a Vietnam veteran on the run for a unknown crime who stumbles onto a movie set, accidently killing off the stunt man. This gets the attention of megalomaniac filmmaker Eli Cross (Peter O'Toole, in the performance that should have won him the Oscar), who is making the movie.

He realizes Cameron's plight and offers him a hiding place by making him the stunt man. He accepts the offer, but at the same time, while he does the stunts, he begins to develop a chronic paranoia that Eli might be trying to kill him and might possibly want to capture his death on film.

Things are complicated even further by his relationship with the film's leading lady Nina Franklin (Barbara Hershey), who he begins to respect more and more. It's funny, insightful, strange, and very much an existential trip based off a wonderful book by Paul Brodeur, with an ending that will not only leave you confused, but will also leaving you wanting more.

One of the best things about this film is the wonderful music score by Dominic Frontiere, which includes a main theme that is as whimsical as it is weird, finally morphing into its true form at the end of the film, that being the Grand Waltz.

Another great thing about this film is that nothing is what it seems and that what makes it all the more interesting. It has everything you could ask for in a movie, and although it might overwhelm and confuse you, that is the intention of the movie and that is what makes it so great to watch.