Teringer An Exercise In Nonsense

Murphy Howard I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Zandra The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Haven Kaycee It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

dglink Movies about movies have a special fascination, and, despite some flaws, "The Stunt Man" is no exception. Arrested for an unnamed offense, Cameron, a crazy-eyed young man played by Steve Railsback, escapes custody and encounters a film company on location. The crew is on a beach shooting a World War I battle that involves dozens of extras, vintage biplanes, and explosions. Aided by the film's director, who does not want to admit that he has lost a stunt man in a tragic car stunt, Cameron becomes the stunt man and is goaded into performing daring and dangerous stunts of his own. In an Academy Award nominated performance, Peter O'Toole plays the determined Eli Cross, the movie-in-the-movie's ruthless manipulative director. Cross stops at nothing to get footage in the can, irregardless of the consequences, even the death of a stunt man. When not jumping from buildings or hanging from ledges, Cameron becomes involved with the film's female star, Nina Franklin, played by Barbara Hershey, whose history with Cross further complicates things.The screenplay by Lawrence B. Marcus and Richard Rush was adapted from a novel by Paul Brodeur, and both the screenplay and Richard Rush's direction, like O'Toole, received Oscar nominations. While much of the film's fun comes from the action and the stunts performed for the movie within the movie, O'Toole's delicious performance as the flamboyant philosophical director is also a major draw, although the supporting cast is also fine, with Alan Garfield and Alex Rocco deserving mention.The mystery of Cameron's crime and the cause of the stunt man's death plunge into a river are slowly revealed, but character is emphasized over plot and the romance consumes much screen time. Thus, the film is often slow, overlong, and not as clever as Rush wanted it to be. Judicious editing could have tightened the film and improved the pace. However, while "The Stunt Man" is fairly entertaining, O'Toole's star performance remains the film's major asset and chief draw.

twhiteson "The Stunt Man" was released in 1980 to apparently universal praise and earned three Oscar nominations including: Best Actor (Peter O'Toole), Best Director (Richard Rush) and Best Adapted Screenplay. (As a result of those nominations, I saw it on TCM as part of that channel's annual "30 Days of Oscar" scheduling.) Now that I've seen it, I'm scratching my head over what critics and Oscar voters saw in this utterly forgettable and rather tacky tale about a Hollywood film production.Whatever its merits were thirty-four years ago have been seemingly lost to time. This is one very dated and cheap-looking film. If it wasn't for its nudity, foul language, and Peter O'Toole it has all the appearances of a late 1970's made-for-TV movie with its cheap looking sets and bargain-bin actors. Steve Railsback (who?) as the star?!?! Really? The plot: fugitive from the law and troubled Vietnam vet (a major cliché of 1970's TV shows and movies was that all Vietnam vets were borderline nuts)"Cameron" (Railsback) flees the police and stumbles upon a movie set. The film's temperamental director, "Eli Cross" (O'Toole), despite being aware of Cameron's fugitive status, immediately hires him as a replacement stuntman. That leads to Cameron, now renamed "Lucky," performing complex and dangerous stunts without a hitch. He's also able to instantly bed several of the film's female cast and crew including its lead actress, "Nina" (Barbara Hershey). (I guess it's because he's just so studly?!?! Steve Railsback? Really?) Meanwhile, Cross and his script writer argue over the meaning of their film and its alleged "poignancy" as an anti-war statement despite filming it at a beach resort. To put it bluntly, the plot was contrived, paper-thin, and just plain unbelievable.I'm flabbergasted that this film was nominated for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay because neither the direction nor the screenplay rise above the level of Movie-of-the-Week. Yes, it was criminal Peter O'Toole never won a Best Actor Oscar and one can think of numerous roles for which he was robbed of that honor, but his role as "Eli Cross" in this stinker is not one of them.This is a bad movie. It's cheap looking. It has a cardboard cut-out for a leading-man. (Steve Railsback? Really?) Richard Rush was a non-entity of a director before "The Stunt Man" and quickly returned to obscurity afterwards as did this grossly overrated film which has been forgotten. My guess is Hollywood's self-absorbed, narcissistic infatuation with movies about the film business led to the false praise. However, time has certainly not been kind to it.

Sergeant_Tibbs I love movies about movies and The Stunt Man is a very entertaining addition to that sub-genre. I had the misconception that Peter O'Toole was the protagonist (given his nomination), but instead he plays the eccentric director who drives the real protagonist's story. He's definitely the highlight of the film and his character holds the whole movie together. Getting actors in the moment is something I've learned recently and the film is entirely about this director's struggle to get his actors in the moment. It's a concept that's fascinating to watch. With its blend of genres of action, comedy, romance and thriller, it can end up a muddle, especially with things I can't tell are plot holes or not. This mixture in tone gets to a point where its repetitive score is either a blessing or irritating depending on the scene. Unfortunately the film is let down by its lead character and performance who is ironically rarely believable and too bland to be relatable. But the film does have that 70s aesthetic of excess and grain borrowed from All That Jazz that I love.7/10

Nog This is definitely one of my favorite films of its time. I can't understand why this film is not more highly rated by just about anyone -- the critics or the public. It's not really a cult film so much as a seemingly chaotic black comedy. One is never quite sure if Eli Cross is totally insane, or has taken measures to prevent the killing of his on-the-lam stunt man. The case is definitely made that Cross is desperate, and resorting to desperate measures. The "killer crane" is a wonderful device, since it helps in the overall feel of vertigo that Rush is looking for.There's obviously the motif of trying to tell reality from false perceptions, and what better way than to have cinema as the setting? We share Cameron's bewilderment at what is happening to him, and there is non-stop tension in every scene -- you just don't know what lunacy may arise at any time. Can he trust anyone? The special edition of the DVD has interviews that really do enlighten. The difficulty in Rush having this film realized is a gripping story in itself -- obviously Rush was as obsessive as his antagonist Cross! I confess to falling for Barbara Hershey -- it's not so much her performance than how Rush photographs her -- she seems to represent not just the Most Desirable Woman but also Comfort. (Or is she just acting? Has Cross put her up to this? What are her true feelings?) And Cameron needs a lot of comfort. They filmed this in San Diego at the Hotel Coronado, but I can't seem to remember reading anything about it at the time! (I was certainly living here at the time.) Of course, Some Like It Hot was also filmed at the Coronado.