Predrag This is a work of art about the creation of a work of art. The work in this case happens to be a movie, and as with all great works of art, there is one obsessed, cruel, megalomaniacal genius at the helm. Eli Cross (Peter O'Toole) is the most vivid depiction of a Hollywood director ever captured on film. He is a true patriarch, playing father/lover/drill sergeant to his cast and crew, and they all love/hate/fear him for it. Anyone who's ever been near an actual film set can tell you how accurate the character is. But what makes this film just about the last word on the subject is Richard Rush's brilliant blurring of fantasy and reality. That, after all, is the main occupation of those who toil in the "Dream Factory" of show biz. This was director Richard Rush's dream project and it took him nine years to get it on the screen.Although it seems nasty, the movie is wonderfully light-hearted and the outrageous stunt scenes are backed up by a joyous score by Dominic Frontiere. A long scene with Cameron running over a rooftop, as biplanes attack and enemy soldiers give chase, is the stuff of legend. There is a great comic sense of humor in watching them trip over each other, fall off and get blown up. The performances are uniformly excellent. O'Toole is truly magnetic here, and you can see that he was hammered in some scenes and still pulls it off. Now that's a pro drinker! Railsback is perfect, and Hershey is mighty alluring indeed. This is the inside look at film-making that Hollywood doesn't want us to see: the egos, the drugs (watch the t-shirts and background scenes), the general insular idiocy of it all, and mainly the non-stop irony. Yes, "The Stunt Man" is a deceptively-accurate look into what the most highly acclaimed directors do to get the most out of their cast & crew.Overall rating: 8 out of 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.

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

preppy-3 A convict named Cameron (Steve Railsback) is being chases by the police. He inadvertently stumbles upon a stunt being done for a movie--and the stuntman dies. The crazy director Eli Cross (Peter O'Toole) makes believe that the stuntman didn't die and passes off Cameron as him. Cameron goes along with it and becomes the official stuntman for the movie. What follows is a frustrating and decidedly unfunny black comedy.I caught this back in 1980 and couldn't make heads or tails out of it. Critics were raving about it nonstop but I thought it was pointless and quite dull. I (sort of) get it now. It's a VERY surreal black comedy about a bunch of people making a movie about WW1 and being ruled over by a mad director who will do ANYTHING to get it done. Some people may find jokes about people being killed or wounded hysterically funny but I didn't. Also the movie is constantly playing with the viewers mind--fantasy and reality keep intermixing in the film. You think you're seeing something real...but it turns out to be fake. This happens nonstop throughout the film! It's kind of fun at first but then it just gets annoying. Acting doesn't help. Railsback (who can be good) is dreadful here. He has just one look and uses it throughout the entire picture! I didn't have a clue on how to take his character. His big speech towards the end is more funny than shocking. Hershey (another one who can be good) is ALSO terrible! Was she taking acting tips from Railsback? She's all over the place here. The script is lousy. Nobody talks like a real person here. I was always aware I was listening to a script--NOT dialogue.There are only two bright lights here: the action sequences are fast, furious and lots of fun. And O'Toole takes his meaty role and runs with it. He was justly nominated for an Academy Award for this. He's WAY over the top but it fits the surreal material like a glove. He's just incredible but he's the only thing worth seeing here. Everything else is just horrible. The total adoration of this picture is beyond me. I give it a 2 and that's just for O'Toole's brilliant performance.