Montreal-based actor Jay Baruchel, playing Canadian stunt man Ken Carter, decides to plant a bed of red roses on an island in the St. Lawrence River. It’s either going to mark where he successfully lands the longest car jump ever — a full mile — or where he dies trying, approximately. Then he shoots off a flare, and on the other side of the river a group of disgruntled Quebecois men start building a 90-foot dirt and concrete ramp pointed straight at (or over) the river.
TV execs bring in the hugely famous Evel Knievel (played by Ben Foster) as a consultant, who Carter says he respects but in the same breath calls “full of shit and a coward.”
The jokes flow almost until the bitter end, with rocket-car technician Dick Keller (played by Ed Helms of The Office and The Hangover fame) providing the more earnest, grounded foil to Baruchel’s absurdities.
Based on a real 1981 National Film Board documentary, The Devil At Your Heels, The Stunt Driver follows Carter as he tries to understand the line between his legitimate concerns about the operation and his more irrational fears. Baruchel, in another stellar performance, totally owns Carter’s determination and also his simple desire to be liked.
The atmosphere of The Stunt Driver makes a lot of sense, given director Michael Dowse previously teamed up with Baruchel on the 2011 hockey classic Goon.
The film will be out in Canadian and U.S. theatres Sept. 25.
This article appeared in the 2026 Oct/Nov issue.
