I Am Evel Knievel

Another film in director Derik Murray's I Am... series of oral-history pop-biographies (I Am Bruce Lee, I Am Steve McQueen, etc.), I Am Evel Knievel restores some luster to the legend of quintessential daredevil Robert “Evel” Knievel (1938-2007). A native of Butte, MT, Knievel moved from job to job (with intervals of petty crime) before finding his life's calling in creating motorcycle stunt shows, soon becoming a world phenomenon known for risking his life and breaking bones (not always his own). Latter-day admirers (actress Michelle Rodriguez, chef-author Guy Fieri, musician Kid Rock), friends (actor Matthew McConaughey), and Knievel's wives and sons reflect on the man and his prodigious gift for generating PR and spending millions as quickly as he made them. Although the material sometimes tends to over-think Knievel (who himself said he didn't know what drove him), the film makes a solid point when a speaker suggests that the red-white-and-blue-costumed Knievel was America's antidote to post-Vietnam/Watergate disillusionment. Knievel also did his motorcycle jumps on a Harley sans the tricked-out engineering used by today's extreme-sports types. And, yes, one of the interviewees here is entertainer Bob Einstein, who spoofed Knievel in his comic persona of "Super Dave Osborne." Recommended. (C. Cassady)