Being Evel

Filmmaker Daniel Junge's biographical profile ably recalls the feats and excesses of iconic daredevil Robert Craig “Evel” Knievel (1938-2007), whose star burned bright even as he experienced numerous personal/professional wipeouts. The Butte, MT, native moved from job to job, excelling at sales and marketing. A cycle stunt to hype his motor dealership led him to his life's calling (and millions of dollars), performing dangerous jumps with various motor vehicles, usually a Harley-Davidson. Dosed with painkillers and his own outsized ego, Knievel broke the arm of his own publicist (Sheldon Saltman, interviewed here in an all-is-forgiven mode) during a thuggish attack, leaving the scene in disgrace. But Knievel was belatedly saluted as inspiration for the extreme-motorsports phenomenon and TV's Jackass. Interviewees here include co-producers Johnny Knoxville and George Hamilton (who acted the part of Knievel in a 1971 bio-pic). Other witnesses/admirers include Geraldo Rivera, skateboarder Tony Hawk, cyclist Travis Pastrana, son Robbie Knievel, and the late Frank Gifford. While Junge's suggestion that a man risking his life and breaking bones won America's respect as an alternative to the rampant dishonesty of the Vietnam War and the Nixon Administration seems a little stretched, this is a solid profile, overall, covering much of the same material as I Am Evel Knievel (VL-9/15). Recommended. Aud: C, P. (C. Cassady)