Viva Knievel!

Review #2320: Viva Knievel!

Cast: 

Evel Knievel (himself), Gene Kelly (Will Atkins), Lauren Hutton (Kate Morgan), Red Buttons (Ben Andrews), Leslie Nielsen (Stanley Millard), Marjoe Gortner (Jessie), Cameron Mitchell (Barton), Frank Gifford (himself), Eric Olson (Tommy Atkins), Albert Salmi (Cortland), Dabney Coleman (Ralph Thompson), and Sheila Allen (Sister Charity) Directed by Gordon Douglas (#663 - Them! and #686 - In Like Flint)

Review: 

You might wonder why I had this movie on my mind. Of course, you might have a curiosity of who Evel Knievel was. Born in Montana in 1938, Robert "Evel" Knievel was a stunt performer and entertainer that did numerous motorcycle jumps after having the aspiration to do so by seeing a daredevil show. He worked in copper mines, rodeos and served in the Army to go along with working in insurance and motorcycle dealer shipping before he became famous. Eventually, he became his promotor to rent out venues and set up a show to get folks to see him do wheelies before jumping stuff such as a box of rattlesnakes or (eventually) cars. Among the most famous of stunts in the early years was a jump over the fountains at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas on New Years Eve 1967 that actually had him get John Derek and his wife Linda Evans to shoot the jump and landing...whereupon he landed just a bit short of accomplishing a pain-free 141 ft jump and crushed his pelvis and femur among other injuries that one can actually access. In 1971, a biopic of the rider came out that was produced and starring George Hamilton that had him do a monologue about being the "last gladiator in the new Rome" (for his part, John Milius co-wrote the movie and called Hamilton a "great con-man" while Hamilton believed that Knievel became the persona in the movie). Eventually, he went with an idea to jump Snake River Canyon in Idaho that would be closed-circuit TV and broadcast in theaters (to namedrop for fun, it actually had Vince McMahon as an investor while Shelly Saltman served as a promoter) in 1974 with a "Skycycle X-2" that failed to accomplish the jump. Knievel would jump on and off for the rest of his years, whether that involved walking out on his own power in Wembley after breaking his pelvis to having a planned shark-jump lead in him crashing into a cameraman and breaking his arms in rehearsal. Prior to the film being released in June of 1977, Saltman's book called Evel Knievel on Tour came out about the life of Knievel (covering the buildup to the Snake River jump) with interviews that had Knievel speak on the matter of certain subjects. Knievel did not like the book (which was pulled out on threats of lawsuits) and took it upon himself to speak to Saltman. On September 21, Knievel, who apparently had hurt his arms in an accident to the point they were in casts went to the 20th Century Fox lot (Saltman was a studio vice president) and struck him with an aluminum baseball bat that saw a shattered wrist and arm to the point of needing plates for Saltman. This was the first and only film for its star in Knievel; the screenplay was done by Norman Katkov and the story was written by Antonio Santillán. This actually was the last film for its director in Gordon Douglas, who directed a wide variety of movies from Our Gang to Elvis and Sinatra that led to such films as I Was a Communist for the FBI (1951), Tony Rome (1967), and In Like Flint (1967); Irwin Allen was a supervising producer on this film, if you can believe it.

Knievel received a bit of jail time and probation before getting sued in a civil trial. A movie involving a guy keeping his word (like wearing a helmet, for obvious reasons) and playing into his anti-drug image seemed funny when you considered he later assaulted a guy and acted like a bum about paying the guy that he shattered his arm and called it "frontier justice" (Knievel never paid any money to Saltman before dying in 2007). So, you've got two guys who were honored by the Academy with awards (Buttons, Kelly) to go alongside a stunt performer, an ex-Evangelist preacher-turned-actor in Gortner and an actual adversarial role in Nielsen and some sort of weird drug plot after it all started with him breaking into an orphanage to deliver his action figures (take a guess what happened to the market) to children. How exactly was this supposed to be a breathtaking movie for its star when you've got drug-addled guys going around bopping people on the head to take on killer stunts, Monday Night Football's Frank Gifford showing up in a yellow-and-orange suit, and Gene Kelly playing a drunk that doesn't really like his kid? Not to give away the game, but Knievel didn't even do stunts for the film, that fell to Gary Charles Davis to crash on cue (well, except for the one time they use actual archive crash footage). Knievel barely acts at all, as if he was only good on a camera if his hip was fractured rather than showing actual charisma. To say the role Kelly is beneath him seems to understand that his subsequent appearance in Xanadu (1980) was an improvement. Okay, so you might wonder what the idea is with the drugs: after getting Knievel to Mexico and sabotaging his bike so he dies, they will get him back to the States in a coffin with a tour trailer that happens to have drugs in the walls. Nielsen may have been a suitable actor for the occasional drama, but even he can't make this stick to actual credibility, particularly since it practically smells like it should be in a comedy that actually has Knievel lecture the audience about not doing drugs before a stunt in the first half. As a whole, this is a movie filled with enough hokum to batter one into having plates into his arm, inspiring plenty of chuckles in its breathtaking lack of charisma that would be perfectly up your alley for a bad movie night.

Overall, I give it 4 out of 10 stars.

I love you too much to let you off Turkey Week without one more surprise tonight: Atlas Shrugged: Part I.

Breaking In (1989).

Review #1492: Breaking In.

Cast:
Burt Reynolds (Ernie Mullins), Casey Siemaszko (Mike Lafeve), Lorraine Toussaint (Delphine), Sheila Kelley (Carrie / Fontaine), Albert Salmi (Johnny Scot, Poker Player), Harry Carey (Shoes, Poker Player), Maury Chaykin (Vincent Tucci, Attorney), and Stephen Tobolowsky (District Attorney) Directed by Bill Forsyth.

Review:
"There's always something you want to say. I would not want to make a film that did not say anything, I'm not interested in getting into something that's just a piece of entertainment, a James Bond or an adventure film. I don't enjoy filming that much, in fact I don't enjoy filming at all and to go through all that for the sake of money would just not interest me."
"I'm not sure if I can swagger anymore, but I can limp with the best of them."

It's easy to forget about a director when Burt Reynolds is your star in a comedy. For example, Scottish-born Bill Forsyth first got into films through an advertisement out of high school and ended up doing short documentary films for eight years, notably founding Tree Films with Charles Gormley in 1970. He wrote his scripts for That Sinking Feeling and Gregory's Girl years in advance, but attempts at getting funds did not take hold with the BFI Production Board. He forged on anyway in making the former film, doing so in 1979 on a cheap budget with actors from the Glasgow Community Theatre. Some of the actors from that film would return for his next film, Gregory's Girl (1981), which resulted in positive notices as the film he is best known for (his next film, Local Hero, also received praise), and he received a British Academy Film Award for each film (the former for screenplay and the latter for direction). This was his second and last film done in North America, with the other being Housekeeping (1987). The film was written by John Sayles (behind films such as Return of the Secaucus 7 and Eight Men Out), whose script had been laying around for a few years that Sayles did not think was something he could direct, and Forsyth updated the script. And then of course there is Burt Reynolds, the one shining reason one might pick this film out in the first place (particularly if you are sentimental towards seeing him in something that could be good). Whether the film is good or not, he remained a fascinating actor to watch be a part of the action for over five decades, with this being at the tail end of his popularity, and he took part in the film for very little money due to his interest in the character role (Forsyth had desired someone like John Mahoney for the role, but a push by Act III Communications for someone with a bit of star power eventually led him to approach Reynolds).

It's a shame that this wasn't a success with audiences on release (making less than two million dollars on a budget of over five million), because it is a decent little movie, even if it isn't exactly the most well-known film for either Forsyth or Reynolds (I happened to have come across this on the Internet and went with it on a guess, although a DVD would obviously be a better quality bet). Sometimes you just have to enjoy a shaggy dog robbery story. In a retrospective article about the film, Forsyth himself described it as "an awkward little movie. It’s not an American film and it’s not a European film; it’s ungraspable what it is." There is definately an interesting sort of tone that Forsyth takes to the material, one that doesn't really go for all of the caper cliches that come with a heist film, instead taking an approach to fleshing out two quirky people that find themselves into this certain business with their own distinct mannerisms and approach. One has probably seen the traditional old pro teaches the hotshot story before, but if one presents it with honesty, it usually works out for a decent time. There isn't anything remotely spectacular about it, but there are bits and pieces that are charming, and the main duo also helps out while also having a few little moments of heists that favor moments of dialogue over anything too explosive (which can work out for those patient for it). Siemaszko, having started appearing in films for six years with bit roles and supporting turns (such as Back to the Future) proves lively enough for the film's liking, carefree yet never lacking when on-screen with various situations of charm. Reynolds, with a hitch in his step and a quieter tone than usual, holds to the challenge quite well, still managing to capture a wise world-weary presence without needing to rely on anything hammy (the makeup on him to make him look older looks fine) that we gravitate to pretty well (of course one could gravitate to Siemaszko too, at least when it comes to brash impulse decisions) with comfort. Seeing these folks try to make a living within a strange world of compromise and duplicity makes for a careful movie, not exactly a laugh-out-loud caper, but also not too plaid for curious enjoyment. It certainly is a curious film for both Forsyth and its two stars in Reynolds and Siemaszko, and if you happen to come across it looking for something diverting, you may be fairly satisfied with what you recieve, getting a few chuckles alongside a decent time.

Overall, I give it 7 out of 10 stars.