Very disappointing...

good film but with many flaws

A Surprisingly Unforgettable Movie!

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Growing up in the 1970s, Evel Knievel was an almost mythical figure -someone who took incredible risks and seemed invincible. This doco shows us the real man, and Knievel comes out of it appallingly. It's to the great credit of writer/director Daniel Junge that the story isn't sugar-coated. Quite the opposite. Knievel was a criminal as a young man, and also later, and was eventually a boor, a bully, a womaniser..he didn't consider his friends' and family's feelings when he kept doing stunts. It must have been traumatising for them to have to see him get badly injured or only just cheat death. I got the impression he thought he was immortal, that he could never die. Probably he was just very lucky. But his fans had a kind of unreal, godly image of him. He was willing to go further across the line of danger than anyone else. He was witty, audacious and outrageous. Also at times stupid, such as baiting the Hell's Angels until they attacked him. Or breaking his friend's arms for writing an authorised book about him. All his inner circle agree that the book was accurate. In any case, the assault ruined Knievel's life because he lost his sponsors and went to jail. I don't feel the movie got to the heart of what motivated him to be a stunt rider. Maybe it was to do with his parents abandoning him as a child. He did want to be rich and famous. He was clearly mentally ill -- given many of the jumps he did. He was like someone running into a burning house, not knowing what would happen to him, seemingly not caring if he died. The doco interviews just about everyone still alive who knew Evel. And they all trust Junge to tell the story. Many of them tell negative stories but also weird and funny stories. They all seem to respect Junge. I questioned why they stuck by Knievel when many of his stunts appeared suicide missions. And also when he was nasty. A fascinating film about a charismatic and (ultimately) all too human, man.

Without Evel Knievel would we've been treated to such popular events as extreme sports, such shows as Jackass/The Dudeson's and would we've had superstars like Johnny Knoxville, The Crusty Demons and a range of other noteworthy names pushing the boundaries of what's expected from performers and athletes? It's an intriguing question and one that filmmaker Daniel Junge looks to answer in his by the books but insightful examination of Robert Craig Knievel's aka "Evel Knievel" rise and fall.Produced by Jackass lynchpins Johnny Knoxville and Jeff Tremaine, Being Evel is a clear love letter from the two gentleman and in particular Knoxville who was inspired by Knievel as a child so much so that he became the household name he is today. Knoxville spends time in front of the camera speaking about Knievel's impact on his life and the admiration he has for him shines through but Junge's trump card is the amount of Knievel acquaintances he manages to round up to talk intimately about the performer who pushed himself and pushed away those he loved with a prickly, womanising demeanour that eventually drove him off the edge.Being Evel shows a clear divide between the Evel the thousands upon thousands of crowd members saw and the one that operated behind closed doors and those who believe Evel to be a lovable American flag waver will be shocked by some of the man's behavioural tendencies from an explosive temper, unfaithfulness to his loved ones and desire to push himself no matter the physical or mental costs.Utilising the talking heads with ample archival footage, Junge collates everything into a clearly decipherable manner but the documentary never strays to far from its TV like roots and there are moments throughout the film where the interest levels will waver but there always bought back around again with Evel's next outlandish actions never too far away.In the age in which boundaries are being pushed daily through professional and more Youtube like ways, Evel Knievel's antics may now seem a little "so what" but there's little point in denying that his the granddaddy of the showmanship and conceptual ideas of the modern day extreme athletes and performers. Being Evel is a must watch for Knievel fans and an insightful (if overly workmanlike) event for us bystanders.3 blinged up walking canes out of 5

Robert ("Evel") Knievel grew up in a tough mining community in Bute, Montana, where the prevailing philosophy seemed to be to throw a punch first and ask questions later. Gender roles were well-established there: the men had to be aggressive as well as assertive, while the women simply existed to serve them.This upbringing had a profound effect on Knievel's subsequent life, which was dominated by the desire to prove he was the best. After a successful, if meteoric career selling insurance and motor-cycles, he decided to become a stuntperson. He began by working as part of a team, but soon discovered there was far more kudos attached to working on his own. The Evel Knievel legend was born. With a combination of brash salespersonship and often crazy stunts - that frequently went wrong - Knievel rose to the top of the celebrity tree, making fantastic sums of Money and appearing regularly on big chat-shows of the Seventies hosted by Johnny Carson and Dick Cavett.Daniel Junge's documentary also shows that he was a deeply unpleasant person. He was serially unfaithful to his wife, and any member of the press unfortunate enough to cross his path was subject to a torrent of abuse. While certainly suffering from insecurities immediately prior to his various stunts, Knievel was also driven by hubris, prompting him to put his life (and family) continually at risk. No one, it seemed, was more important than himself.His fall from grace was as rapid as his rise. Sentenced to six months in jail for assaulting his one-time publicity manager, he continued to manipulate the media for his own ends, without realizing that they had turned against him. Lucrative contracts were suspended; the girls, gold and glitter evaporated; and Knievel was left virtually destitute.In his last years he tried to atone for his past behavior, but the documentary suggested that this was equally driven by hubris: why not manipulate the media in another way, even though you might be on the professional scrap-heap? BEING EVEL told a cautionary tale of a celebrity who quite literally did not understand the limits - either of human endeavor or his close associates' patience with him. Despite his enduring reputation, he came across as a rather sad case.

This is a fascinating, exhaustive and well researched, and entertaining documentary about the flamboyant daredevil motorbike riding Evel Knievel. Born Robert Craig Knievel in Butte, Montana, he became world famous as Evel Knevel, given to dangerous stunts like jumping over buses and his flamboyant appearances on television. He was the iconic hero America needed during troubled times. He has been the subject of many other documentaries, but unlike previous films Being Evel is not simply a hagiography, but rather offers up a detailed and revealing a warts and all look at Knievel and shows his darker nature and volatile personality. There is his vicious attack on Sally Saltman, his former press agent, with a baseball bat that landed him in jail. Knievel lived much of his life in the public eye, so there is a wealth of archival material for veteran documentary director Daniel Junge (A LEGO Brickumentary, etc) to draw upon. The film shows many of his spectacular stunts and some sickening footage of his many crash landings. But the centrepiece of the film centres around his much publicised failed attempt to jump across the Grand Canyon in a purpose built miniature rocket, and we get plenty of juicy revelations and speculation about what went wrong here. And a number of friends, family members and colleagues recall colourful and lively anecdotes about the man. Jackass's Johnny Knoxville is obviously a huge fan, and here he waxes lyrical about the man and his achievements, and acknowledges the impact Knievel had on the establishment of extreme sports. Actor George Hamilton, who played Knievel in an awful 1972 biopic and who is one of the producers of this film, recounts a fascinating anecdote that illustrates Knievel's sense of his own infallibility and his growing paranoia and egocentric behaviour. One of the more entertaining documentaries screening at MIFF, Being Evel demystifies the complex, complicated and deeply flawed man behind the legend and is a lot of fun to watch!