Review of The Stunt Man (1980) by R.c. K — 14 Sep 2007

"If God could do the tricks that we can do, he'd be a happy man.".

The tagline of the film is a direct quote of Eli Cross, director of "Devil's Squadron" the made-up film within The Stunt Man. He's played by Peter O'Toole, who apparently based his portrayal on David Lean. I've seen a few films with O'Toole before, but rarely at a point where I'd identify him or make note of performances on anything more than a subconscious level. Here, though, he definitely made an impression as the egomaniacal, charming and magnetic director of an anti-war film, or an "anti-disease-of-which-war-is-a-sympton" film, anyway.

Steve Railsback, who Richard Rush (director of the film) apparently hired for his performance as Charles Manson in Helter Skelter, gives a passionate, if odd, performance as the title character--whose name is Cameron. He looks uncomfortable and unsure throughout the entire film, which is only natural when all we know about him through most of the film is that he is on the run from the police and has been hired by a director to be a stunt man in exchange for sealed lips on Cameron's identity--thenceforth he becomes "Lucky Burt.".

Most of the film deals with a favourite subject of mine--perception. Constantly we are shown and pushed into viewing things one way, only to find the fourth wall break away, yet still leave us looking through--the ceiling? a fifth wall? We aren't directly addressed, but there's a clear reveal for our purposes. We're decieved consistently though, as we see most things through the eyes of Cameron and those around him--or occasionally him alone. When things shift in focus, and we realize the truth of any situation, there is no jolt, except of realization. Things shift naturally to reveal the truth, and the preceding lie loses none of its 'truth' in the moment or potency; it does not feel as though there has been some cheat, even though we've been decieved.

By far, this is the most interesting part of the film as a whole, but in particular, I was absolutely entranced by the nonchalant yet driven "genius" of Eli Cross--but, more accurately, I mean of course O'Toole's fantastic performance as the manipulative director. It was stunning in one scene when he unexpectedly dropped from the sky ("Deus ex machina...?" I thought) in a camera crane, attempting to direct real people into using their actions for his movie. It's difficult to explain that or any other scene without ruining the magic and surprise of any of them, though, so that will have to suffice. In the same vein, all of the stunts Cameron is put through are ridiculous; we see them and they feel dangerous as stunts, but we're seeing stunts through stunts--this is a film within a film, and it's well enough directed and edited that that is repeatedly hidden from us, that knowledge repeatedly taken away from us, even as we're consistently told--"Gotcha!".

The reputation of the film overall is that of a strong cult film, one of the "first" of them, or at least one of the first to achieve this status successfully. It definitely lives up to those expectations--and that's all it needs to do, really.