Linkshoch Wonderful Movie

Senteur As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

Rexanne It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

Caryl It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

Mr-Fusion There's questioning one's reality and then there's bending it through a prism six ways from Sunday. "The Stuntman" is the latter, which shrouds itself in questions and stymies you at every turn. Mostly, this is a well-constructed film and the mystery keeps you actively involved. It's fascinating how many layers this thing has. But even if you're not game for this sort of side-winding, it does have Peter O'Toole, which is a joyride unto himself. His megalomaniacal director is larger than life and might just be an evil genius. But he absolutely owns this movie, and it's a ferocious performance to beat them all. Amazing stuff.7/10

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.

CinefanR I understand perfectly what this movie is trying to say, but I have the impression that it just doesn't say it in a very good way. The themes and message come across clearly, but although "The Stunt Man" makes some good points on several levels, it also drags a lot. Now I hate to criticize a Peter O'Toole movie, but… he's the only bright spot here and the reason to keep watching.The opening scene and some other sequences (especially the stunts and the scenes between Nina and "Lucky") are overlong to the point that you just don't give a damn anymore. The extras are painfully bad in the "carnage" scene on the beach– maybe it's not important, but I couldn't help notice. The script writer (that Sam character if I'm not mistaking) is incredibly tiresome and useless- what he says is supposed to be funny and revealing, but it's not. The whole thing is meant to be funny, but I didn't find anything amusing. Hershey's makeup as an old woman is terrible. The stunt man's stupidity is annoying and his lines sound dumb, but I guess that was the point. The contempt for the audience becomes obvious in the "graveyard scene" (what the hell was that?! was it supposed to be funny or ingenious?).Now, for the good parts… The editing is good. The soundtrack is catchy. Good points on the movie industry are made, even if dialogues could have been infinitely better. But above all, this is Peter O'Toole's show. The 'late 70's style' haircuts and clothes are awful, but he's stunning despite the big hair, jewelry, turtle-necks and other fashion atrocities of the era (men's pinkie rings come to mind). I have mixed feelings about this movie, but O'Toole saves the day. He dominates the space, even if he's not given enough screen time.

Woodyanders Troubled and paranoid fugitive Vietnam veteran Cameron (a fine and intense performance by Steve Railsback) seeks refuge on the set of a lavish World War I picture that's being directed by cruel and crazed, yet cunning and charismatic megalomaniac director Eli Cross (superbly played with lip-smacking pompous aplomb by Peter O'Toole). Cross makes Cameron replace a previous stuntman who drowned when a car gag went awry due to Cameron's interference. Cameron soon suspects that Eli may be trying to kill him so he can capture his death on celluloid for the sake of realism. Director Richard Rush, who also co-wrote the ingenious script with Lawrence B. Marcus, offers a fresh, inspired and arresting mix of comedy, drama, action, thriller, and romance while also delivering a rich and provocative existential meditation on illusion versus reality and a fascinating glimpse at all the chaos, tension, madness and arduous labor that goes into making a movie. The exciting and elaborate stunt set pieces are simply amazing. Mario Tosi's gleaming, polished cinematography and Dominic Frontiere's jaunty, rousing score are likewise excellent and impressive. This film further benefits from first-rate acting by the uniformly stellar cast: Railsback and O'Toole are both fabulous in their juicy lead parts; they receive bang-up support from Barbara Hershey as radiant, ravishing actress Nina Franklin, Allen Garfield as harried, neurotic screenwriter Sam, Adam Roarke as humble actor Raymond Bailey, Sharon Farrell as sweet, sassy make-up girl Denise, Chuck Bail as amiable stunt coordinator Chuck Barton, Philip Bruns as smarmy producer Ace, and Alex Rocco as huffy police chief Jake. Dusty Springfield sings the lovely theme song "Bits & Pieces." A marvelously offbeat and original one-of-a-kind knockout that's wholly deserving of its cult status.