This biopic has moxie and fears as much as the stunt driver did, but lacks danger.
“The Stunt Driver” is based on the documentary “The Devil At Your Heels,” in which Ken Carter (born Kenneth Gordon Polsjek), the famous Canadian stuntman nicknamed “The Canadian Daredevil,” planned to drive his car over the Saint-Laurent river off a 90-foot-high ramp. And this film adaptation, which is also labeled as a comedy and drama, specializes in formats, production values, and casting Jay Baruchel as Ken, but it doesn’t specialize in the humor or narrative. And this comedy star has been in some of the funniest of all time like “Knocked Up” or “This is the End.”
Written and directed by Michael Dowse, is filmed in a mix of ratios resembling the 70s time period and photographed by Sara Mishara (“Drunken Birds,” “Allure”). It shifts aspect ratios from feature to documentary, and it looks and feels stylish as the stunt driver and his ambitions. And if a movie looks this good but lacks substance, it starts to become disappointing and laggy.
The movie opens by saying that supporting character names were created for the sake of the dramatization. Ken enlists the engineer Dick Keller (Ed Helms) to help him design a vehicle to fly over the river, the sports agent Bill Wilkins (Dan Bakkedahl) to help with the finances, and the documentarian Bob Fortier (Joe Cobden) to film the film the stunt. Of course, many would say that it’s a dangerous, stupid, and impossible jump, but Ken is persistent enough to try. And he even invites the rival daredevil Evil Knievel (Ben Foster) to oversee the production, which he says is “the daredevil stunt to end all daredevil stunts” out of jealousy. They do have their fights, but the conflicts don’t last forever. That would have been too perfunctory.
Two years later, after they’re were forced to postpone the jump, Ken starts to feel scared about pulling a dangerous stunt like that. And even though he keeps saying he has to jump, and even though the vehicles start to malfunction before take-off, people think he’s just stalling. And there are those like his wife Gloria (Laurence Lebouef) and Dick, who tell him to walk away while he can.
Baruchel, who has collaborated with the director before on “Goon,” plays Ken by embracing his Canadian roots and by showing the kind of moxie he had before his tragic death in 1983 when he failed to beat his own record on a jump across a pond in Petersborough, Ontario. But the better Canadian biopic he was in a few years ago was “Blackberry,” which was a lot more insightful into the motives of a big dream. At least, they have another thing in common: both dreams failed in the end.
With every dream, there is a plan, and with every plan, there are money problems, and with every problem, there are arguments. And that’s what this movie seems to be indulging itself in. It’s well-acted (especially by Helms and Bakkedahl), but it doesn’t really elevate the story the way it should. And the wife subplot starts to lose the way with the tropes required for a movie.
The 70s stunt vehicles designed and used for “The Stunt Driver” look cool. The kind that should represent Ken’s dreams and what he did for a living. And the car he was supposed to use for the Saint-Laurent river jump has to have a parachute, worse case scenario. But they don’t have the basis to give us engines within.
“The Stunt Driver” is like looking at a daredevil show with anticipation, but less depth and consistencies. This biopic needs an oil change.
In Select Theaters This Friday
