Cole Smithey’s Movie Week: Being Evel [review]

being evel review evel knievel documentary
Written by Cole Smithey

A generation of Americans brought up in the 1970s spent their childhoods riding banana-seat bikes off homemade ramps, thanks to the great motorcycle stuntman, Evel Knievel. “Being Evel” captures Knievel’s journey from smalltown hustler to the millionaire dare devil who threw it all away ….

aNewDomain cole-smithey— Anyone who grew up in the 1970s knows how big of a deal motorcycle daredevil Evel Knievel was. His bone-breaking motorcycle stunts were a great diversion during the Post Watergate years. And they were the inspiration for untold preteen stunts that employed banana-seat bikes, plywood ramps and one or two family trashcans.

Being Evel” producer Johnny Knoxville (remember “Jackass?”) was one of those kids. And Knoxville, as key interviewee, serves as the  admiring narrator of this overdue documentary. The film portrays Knievel as a complex man who began as a smalltime hustler and ended up a millionaire national hero who threw it all the way. Knievel’s colorful past, including a litany of illegal and outrageous acts, will suck you in. I give this memorable documetary a B+.

My sleeper pick this week is “I Touched All Your Stuff.” My Guilty pleasure is “Creep,” and my must-have DVDs to get this week are “Gemma Bovery,” “The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared” and “Cemetery Without Crosses.”

Check out film clips in my video review of “Being Evel,” below. Have a great time at the movies! For aNewDomain, I’m Cole Smithey.