Hooper (1978)

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   Siskoid

   So I'm correct in thinking Hooper is the inspiration for The Fall Guy TV series, right? Essentially a mid-life crisis film where the title middle-aged stuntman played by Burt Reynolds feels his age and thinks of retiring, especially with Airwolf's Jan-Michael Vincent coming as a new breed of stunt performer. So it's psychologically appropriate that Hooper is acting like a big kid, shouting YOLO at the sky, and risking his life for One Last Stunt(TM), though the film hardly gives you a sense that he's ever been any different. Worse, perhaps, is that though everything points to a tragic ending, Hooper never really learns a lesson. What he says he'll do, he does, and the foreshadowing is merely audience manipulation. As a stuntman movie, it provides a lot of "gags", as the in-story director's vision becomes more and more elaborate and dangerous, but you also know guys are doing it for real (a blooper reel in the Jackie Chan style reminds you in the credits sequence if you forgot). You also realize there's movie fudging involved - there's stuff here that WASN'T done for real the way the in-story stuntmen are doing it, and the director putting people in real danger is more lampoon than industry criticism - which I found distracting. I'm not entirely enthusiastic, but maybe if it had more Sally Field. She's funny, touching and sexy in this, the complete package, and at odds with the macho shenanigans of her co-stars. 4 years 5 months ago

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