The Stunt Man

Lacking the innocence of Rush's previous work, this is also short on the really sardonic wit that its storyline (based on Paul Brodeur's novel) demands. A young Vietvet on the run (Railsback) tumbles onto the location of an all-action World War I epic, and falls into uneasy partnership with the movie's imperious, soliloquising director, O'Toole. That piece of casting is driven home with a sledgehammer insistence, while Railsback's engagingly twitchy performance - as the new stuntman filling in for a dead predecessor - is passed over in favour of more 'serious' themes. The result is a movie filled with gags and excellent stunts which remains curiously humourless at heart. Stunted, not stunning.