"Don’t Try This at Home, Seriously. . ."
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What You Need To Know:
STUNTMAN is a fascinating, gripping documentary with strong jeopardy, lots of heart and a dramatic, satisfying resolution. Even better, it has a strong moral, pro-family worldview with Christian, capitalist, patriotic elements. There’s an overt emphasis on providing, teaching and honoring one’s family. Also, the movie stresses that the stuntman is a family man who uses his vocation to support his family. In addition, the stuntman uses Matthew 5:37 to promote the importance of being straightforward and letting your yes be yes and your no be no. Finally, STUNTMAN has multiple intentional shots of an American flag as the stuntman prepares for a death-defying stunt. MOVIEGUIDE® advises caution for older children for some strong stunt violence and brief foul language.
Content:
More Detail:
STUNTMAN is a terrific documentary on Disney Plus about a Hollywood stuntman, Eddie Braun, and his career, while focusing on an upcoming stunt as well as his personal life. STUNTMAN is a fascinating, gripping documentary with strong jeopardy, lots of heart, a dramatic resolution, and a very strong moral, pro-family worldview containing Christian, pro-capitalist and patriotic elements, but the stunt violence and brief foul language warrant caution for older children.
STUNTMAN begins with a necessary disclaimer from leading man, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Johnson applauds the work of stuntmen all over who bring the world of movies to life with their skills. Likewise, Johnson stresses that the stunts in the movie are performed by professionals and shouldn’t be attempted by viewers. Hooray for discernment!
After Johnson’s scene, viewers meet Eddie Braun, a fifty something stuntman popular for major Hollywood movies like THE AVENGERS and TRANSFORMERS. Braun was a stunt double for Charlie Sheen, among others, but off-screen, Braun is a father of four children and married to his wife, Meg, for more than 20 years.
Legendary daredevil of the 1970s, Evel Knievel, inspired much of Braun’s work in the stunt business. In fact, Braun actually had the opportunity in his youth to meet Knievel, as a photo in the movie proves. Back in 1974, Braun recounts the story of Knievel’s attempt to clear a 1700-foot canyon in Idaho. To the regret of Knievel and the interested people who kept up with his stunts, he failed in his attempt to launch himself in a rocket to the other side.
Braun hopes he can do the opposite.
The remainder of STUNTMAN zeroes in on Braun’s attempt to get news coverage for the stunt, to get funding for the technology to cross the canyon and to gain the support of local people who are worried his stunt will impact their farmland during harvesttime.
Will Braun be able to stick the landing?
STUNTMAN is a fascinating documentary with great storytelling elements. There are equal parts jeopardy, heart and drama, not to mention a fine balance of slow-motion shots and wide shots that capture the gravity of onscreen events. Archival footage and voiceovers help bring the story to life. They give the movie added context that helps viewers get a fuller picture of the title character’s life story.
STUNTMAN has a very strong moral worldview with Christian, pro-capitalist and patriotic elements. There’s an obvious, overt emphasis on providing, teaching and honoring one’s family. The movie also stresses that the title character is a family man who uses his vocation to support his family. In two separate instances, the title character uses Matthew 5:37 to promote the value of letting your yes be yes and your no be no, which also refers to his desire to take on too much. Also, one man wears a cross necklace. Finally, the movie has multiple intentional shots of an American flag as the stuntman prepares for a death-defying stunt. However, some strong stunt violence and brief foul language in STUNTMAN warrant caution for older children.
