Evel Knievel (1971)

Evel Knievel
Starring: George Hamilton, Sue Lyon, Bert Freed
Director: Marvin J. Chomsky
Writers: Alan Caillou, John Milius
Genre: Biography
Year: 1971
My rating: 

From the onset, EVEL KNIEVEL (1971) gave all the signs of being a stereotypical bad movie. An early 1970s biopic. About Evel Knievel. Starring George Hamilton. Sounds wretched, doesn't it?

Surprisingly, the movie isn't that bad at all. But the things that make it a decent movie also contribute to making it an absolutely awful biopic. I didn't really learn anything about Evel Knievel at all except that he's a bit of a nut (I should have seen that coming, really) and that his medical bills must be high (ditto). The story is told as a series of seemingly random flashbacks. There's nothing holding the scenes together and they don't form a coherent story. They do little to educate, but a lot to entertain.

First of all, I should mention George Hamilton's performance as Evel Knievel. You know, I've seen Hamilton in countless commercials, and I've seen his increasingly orange glowing face being interviewed more times than I care to think about. But I'm not convinced that I've ever actually seen him acting in a movie. So color me surprised when I thought his performance was quite good. I have no idea what the real Evel Knievel is like (a refrain you will see me revisit more than once during this review), but Hamilton is very believable in the role.

The supporting actors matter less. The only person who may stick in the memory is the character of Knievel's doctor/surgeon (played by Bert Freed) who has the unenviable job of regularly putting Humpty Dumpty back together again after each spectacular crash. I enjoyed watching this surly doctor patiently sewing Knievel's limbs back on (while admiring his previous repairs), wondering if the next crash will be the last one, and not really caring all that much. (A lot of movies would have had the doctor as a grumpy guy with a heart of gold. Deep down he really wouldn't anything bad to happen to Knievel. But not here. This guy genuinely doesn't seem to give a damn about his patient, which I found delightful.)

The only other real character of note is Knievel's girlfriend/wife. I know nothing about the real life couple, but this scrawny, skinny woman wouldn't have been what popped into my head if ever I had spent a moment of my past pondering what Evel Knievel's wife would be like. I would have pictured a more substantial woman. Someone a little sturdier. Someone he could leap off a building onto without damaging. I mean, that just makes sense, doesn't it?

The film has little plot to speak of. The (then) present day Knievel is waiting to execute his most extraordinary stunt ever and while putting in time he endures a series of flashbacks. Most of these flashbacks are entertaining, but they each seem to exist in an independent universe. They're fun because each one decides that it will be the light and goofy flashback and the heavier stuff will be handled in other scenes. Except there are no weighter scenes, so the whole thing ends up being very insubstantial. 

While this leads to a frustrating biography, it also results in a fun enough movie. I can't, for example, think of too many other movies where an exciting and tense chase sequence is accompanied by comedy tuba music. Or a film where the leading lady loses her virginity to a man wearing ice-skates. Or a biopic that dares to show the hero dynamiting his way into the City Hall men's room.

Speaking of the City Hall, I should point out that this movie is the earliest movie listed on IMDB to have done location filming in Butte, Montana. I didn't realize when I spent my dollar on this DVD at Wal*Mart that I'd be looking at beautiful Butte, Montana footage. Despite this, Butte, Montana doesn't come across as all that exciting of a place. Apparently, all you have to do is walk into a bar, tell people that "something big is going to happen", and you'll work up all the Butteans into a frenzy, get them running in the streets, and causing all kinds of chaos. (Butte, Montana seems to have undergone a cinematic revival in the past two years. IMDB lists ten total movies as having been filmed there, five of which were shot in 2004 or 2005. Food for thought.) 

As for the accuracy, I'm not too interested with that, but I didn't notice any "authorized by Evel Knievel" in the credits. Perhaps this explains the portrayal of Knievel as a screaming, nitpicky neurotic. He comes across as an extremely unpleasant person, and one's sympathy instantly rests with whoever is unlucky enough to be in a room with him. And yet there is something likable about this lunatic. Just as long as you don't have to nurse him, be married to him, talk to him or be within five hundred yards of him. Watching his biopic is about as close as I ever want to be.

But as fun as the movie is, it leaves a lot of questions unanswered. Why did he fall in love with his wife (we see their early dating life, but no indication of what he saw in her)? Why did he get into stunt-riding? Why is his name spelled "Evel"? 

In case I haven't made this clear by now: this is not a film you want to take in any way seriously. But then, you probably figured that when you saw the title and the star. Much of the entertainment comes from the "this is so goofy; I can't believe I'm watching this" factor, but just try to get yourself into the right frame of mind. I'm honestly not sure how seriously the filmmakers were taking this, but as long as the audience doesn't take it seriously, you should enjoy it.