Originally made for Spike TV (the cable channel of guy culture), Jeff Renfroe's documentary portrait of actor and icon of cool Steve McQueen is just as probing as you'd expect in a production from McQueen Racing. Essentially offering a survey of his career—from the TV series Wanted: Dead or Alive to his defining films (The Magnificent Seven, The Great Escape, The Thomas Crown Affair, and Bullitt among them), the film also takes detours along the way to explore McQueen's love of cars and racing, an interest that competed (and at times dovetailed) with his film career. Robert Downey Jr. narrates, while family members (his son, Chad; plus his widow, ex-wives, and grandkids) remember him fondly, and a gallery of fellow actors (including Gary Oldman and Pierce Brosnan), stunt performers, and racing aficionados share appreciations of McQueen as an actor and a racer. I Am Steve McQueen is most interesting when it explores the actor's work as a stuntman (separating the myth from the reality) and looks at his labor of love project Le Mans, a financial flop that has become a cult movie among racing fans. But while it features a wealth of behind-the-scenes footage along with the usual film clips, there's nothing genuinely revealing or in the least bit critical here. Even when the film delves into his fight with cancer, it sidesteps the details of the controversial (and damaging) cancer treatments McQueen received outside of American borders. Despite the title, this documentary never really gives viewers an idea of who Steve McQueen was behind the image. Also including bonus featurettes, this is an optional purchase. Aud: P. (S. Axmaker)
I Am Steve McQueen
(2014) 93 min. DVD: $14.98, Blu-ray: $29.95. Shout! Factory (avail. from most distributors). Volume 30, Issue 3
I Am Steve McQueen
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