The Stunt Man - 1980

 Wow.  I was way off on my guess of the year this one came out.  Feels a lot more 70s to me.

The Stunt Man is a relatively well known cult type film, one a bit off the general radar but still well within the overall realm of these kinda things.  We got Steve Railsback and Peter O'Toole in a genre which is kinda gone, one which I sorta forgot about...  This is the "whoa dude Hollywood is so wacky and crazy and there's drugs and girls and you'll make millions or it'll destroy you...wow dude" 

What was the last one of these types of movies?  Immediately I think of Boogie Nights and sort of Almost Famous.  Movies wherein its kinda a dramatic comedy, I guess, and its about the disenfranchisement of someone discovering their dream is not what they thought, or its a riotous romp about the insanity and audacity therein.  Once Upon a Time in Hollywood does not count, because it's about the Manson family stuff more.

The Stunt Man starts with a criminal, Railsback, escaping the police and bumping into a film crew.  He gets tapped to perform stunts by the directer, O'Toole, who takes an instant liking to him.  Railsback is promised to be protected and make money if he signs on to perform stunts in the movie, and soon he discovers success and happiness in this new niche group.  But things, naturally, are not all they seem.

I could easily see why this is in the cult realm, and I can easily see why people might really like it.  It has wackiness, silliness, and incredible stunts.  Its all real, and it shows some of the golden age of Hollywood insanity which truly must've been fun and fucking fucked up to be a part of at one point.  

It moves a bit slow and it really plays up the drama in the last part, which also highlights some of Railsback's relative inexperience as a film actor.  I hate to say it, but he just is not right for this part, or maybe its the writing I don't know.  Sometimes in the end its kinda amateurish.  But it's also bogged down by weird and convoluted writing and its sorta a who knows general feeling.  So, it doesn't stick the landing and that makes me give it about a 3.5.

By the way....  My guess for the year was 1974.  This is straight from Wikipedia: " The script was first written in 1970 when the rights were first sold. The film was shot in 1977 with post-production conducted in 1979. The picture had trouble getting distributed until 20th Century Fox picked it up and released it in 1980."  I fucking knew it wasn't 1980.