Stuntmen (2009)

Like others, I picked up this DVD because I like the occasional mockumentary, not expecting much. It was hilarious! I rarely write reviews, but I thought it was only appropriate to review a movie that is downright creative, sincerely funny and clever. I was into every second of the film!This is a real gem for sure and the acting was phenomenal. I am shocked that this hasn't blown up because the cast and creators obviously put together something really special and different.So, to sum things up, go rent this movie asap - you will have a great night in with lots of laughs.

Like a lot of other largely improvised mockumentaries, the biggest problem with Stuntmen is that it clearly never knows what's funny and what isn't. It just puts people in front of the camera and lets them go off, but writer/director Eric Amadio obviously could never tell when his actors were soaring, when they were falling flat and how to get more of the former and less of the latter. And things certainly aren't improved when a tired plot about gay acceptance, of all things, tries to assert itself toward the end.Steve (Chris Tarantino) has been hired to shoot some interview footage for the upcoming Stuntman Awards. The sort of ambitious nincompoop who thinks feigning a British accent on camera will be good for his career, Steve decides to hijack the filming and turn it into a documentary about the rivalry between top stuntmen Eligh Supreme (Marc Blucas) and Tank Macho (Ross Patterson). Besides talking to the obscurely metrosexual Eligh and the non-Southern redneck Tank, Steve interviews a whole host of others as the animosity between the two nominees for Stuntman of the Year destroys the awards ceremony until it has to be put on at the local Elk's Club in front of a crowd bussed in from a nearby retirement home. Along the way, Steve discovers a dark family secret about Eligh and must decide whether to reveal it or not.If you've ever seen one of these things, you know what the drill is. The cast is stuck in front of the camera, given some basic material to work off and told to just vamp until they come up with something funny.Sometimes it works. In this film that's usually when it's Marc Blucas or Ross Patterson on screen as the two feuding stuntmen or when it's Lance LeGault as Eligh's Ultimate Old School grandfather or Ray Wise as an intense, middle aged stuntman who claims to have been born without a sense of humor. Dominique Swain also gets off some good lines as the stuntwoman who married Eligh but then ran off during the wedding reception to be with Tank.Sometimes it doesn't. That's usually when anybody else is on camera, particularly Eligh and Tank's ultra-phony, ultra-competitive agents (Joel David Moore, Zachary Levi and Brandon Routh). It's not that they're unfunny. It's that they're trying so hard and not even getting close to comedy. Even at it's best, improve tends to be moments of brilliance breaking up long stretches of mediocrity. Stuntmen has the long stretches of mediocrity, but it's interrupted by moments of only the somewhat above average.Now, humor is very subjective. What's hilarious to one is boring to another, especially when the humor is fairly scattered and unformed. So, you might enjoy this movie much more than I did. It's reasonably well made and is never aggravating or wastes too much of your time. If you like the mockumentary sub-genre, this is probably worth a look. If you've seen a few and they leave you cold, Stuntmen isn't going to be any different.

This film undercuts the whole premise of a mockumentary: that one is able suspend one's disbelief about whether the story is true or not.With over-the-top character names (Tank Macho) terrible dialogue gimmicks, and no stunts whatsoever, the film falls apart within the first five minutes."Stuntmen" is an exercise in tediousness that seems like it were created by the most obnoxious members of a junior-year high-school drama class, if they were only allotted a large enough budget for their pubescent foolishness.If one wishes to contrast this film to a properly done modern mockumentary, please watch "A Mighty Wind" or "Hard Core Logo".The only people who will be able to stomach this meal are the kind who consider "Talledega Nights" to be superior to "The Godfather". Everyone else steer clear.

I wasn't sure what I was getting into when I watched the movie, but started laughing and didn't stop for an hour and a half. I'm really not a fan of mockumentaries, but this one is really, really funny. So many ridiculous one-liners. When you watch it, you'll definitely be rewinding a few of the scenes and watching them again. The guy from Chuck was hilarious. I might actually start watching that show now.Don't expect any Oscar nominations, but definitely a good movie to check out if you want to have a serious laugh session. I'm going to have to watch it another couple of times to catch all of the jokes that I missed the first time around.