A fugitive stumbles onto a movie set just when they need a new stunt man, takes the job as a way to hide out and falls for the leading lady while facing off with his manipulative director.A fugitive stumbles onto a movie set just when they need a new stunt man, takes the job as a way to hide out and falls for the leading lady while facing off with his manipulative director.A fugitive stumbles onto a movie set just when they need a new stunt man, takes the job as a way to hide out and falls for the leading lady while facing off with his manipulative director.
- Nominated for 3 Oscars
- 4 wins & 11 nominations total
- Sam
- (as Allen Goorwitz)
- Garage Guard
- (as John B. Pearce)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaDirector Richard Rush has said of this movie in a 2001 interview with Paul Hupfield: "I was lecturing at a university film school to a bunch of potential film students and asked them if any of them had seen my films. I started with Color of Night (1994), and I'd say about 80 hands went up out of a room of about 200 kids. Then I asked if anyone had seen The Stunt Man (1980), the film I actually wanted to talk to them about, and only two hands went up. Two hands in a room of 200! I thought, 'Oh boy, my film is totally lost on this generation...'"
- GoofsJust before jumping into the water to rescue Nina, Cameron is already all wet.
- Quotes
Eli Cross: [after a cameraman says cut because there's only 22 seconds of film left] In 22 seconds, I could break your fucking spine. In 22 seconds, I could pinch your head off like a fucking insect and spin it all over the fucking pavement. In 22 seconds, I could put 22 bullets inside your ridiculous gut. What I seem unable to do in 22 seconds is to keep you from fucking up my film!
- Crazy creditsAfter the credits end, the movie-within-a-movie director (played by Peter O'Toole) yells, "Sam, rewrite the opening reel! Crush the little bastard in the first act!" And then he laughs during the fade-out.
Peter O'Toole is so swell in it. I love that enigmatic character, movie director Eli Cross! Like the movie (and O'Toole, for that matter), he's so hard to cubbyhole. You like him, but you don't trust him. Like Cameron/Lucky (Steve Railsback's escaped convict character) does, you NEED to know exactly where his motives lie ... all in good time. You know Cross'll do whatever's necessary to get "the shot", but he's still got a conscience ... right? Would Cameron have been better off (read safer) just staying in jail ... hmmm?
All the action in the film circles around this question and while the viewer (and Cameron) decide what to make of Eli, it's a fun trip through the world of filmmaking (how realistic a trip, I've no idea). Great performances by O'Toole and Railsback, along with Barbara Hershey, Allen Garfield, Alex Rocco and Sharon Ferrell add so much to the suspense.
See this movie. You can feel how much fun it was for the cast to make. Look at Eli's devilish grin as he tries to soothe Lucky's worries. Try to imagine how many other movies have you sympathizing for an escaped convict. And don't worry if you don't know what to make of mad genius filmmaker Eli Cross because nobody else does either, and if they do, they ain't talkin' ... that might spoil the movie!
- youremythrill
- Mar 30, 2001
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Details
Box office
- Budget
- $3,500,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $7,063,886
- Gross worldwide
- $7,063,886
- Runtime2 hours 11 minutes
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1