Double Dare

Amanda Micheli's compelling stuntwoman documentary Double Dare should be mandatory viewing for the Academy members who recently voted against creating an Oscar category for stuntwork. The doc focuses on the two women -- Jeannie Epper and Zoe Bell -- who doubled alpha superheroines of their respective eras: Wonder Woman and Xena. The film begins by separately tracking feisty veteran Epper as she struggles to find stunt coordinator jobs in a male-dominated industry and the effervescent Bell as she begrudgingly considers departing her native New Zealand for Hollywood, in Xena's wake.

The film then generates unexpected poignance when their stories coalesce and Epper literally teaches Bell the ropes. Epper's exuberance in experiencing Bell's Hollywood dream is counterbalanced by concern for her stuntwoman daughter who is bed-ridden with persistent neck pain. Micheli -- whose first doc, Just for the Ride, tracked female rodeo champions -- knows her way around this material. She wisely makes her charismatic leads the centerpiece of the film, interspersing stuntwork and intensive training sequences with home video footage and familial interaction. This creates s complete picture of these women.

Meanwhile, themes such as ageism and sexism develop organically with a minimum of exposition, as when one of Epper's cold-calls for work is met with flirtation. But this is not a film about the one glass ceiling these women can't break through. They persevere in spite of obstacles larger than the absence of padding.

It's also not about the mechanics of stuntwork, but Micheli's juxtaposition of these women's stunts and the dilettantish attempts of the lead actresses reveals the degree to which their sacrifices are crucial to cinematic magic.
Somehow, point of view shots of 35 foot drops simultaneously romanticize and deglamorize the life of a stuntperson (interested viewers should also track down the 1987 TV special The Ultimate Stuntman: A Tribute to Dar Robinson).

The film is presented in full frame, which doesn't quite support some of the complex stunts. The Dolby Digital 2.0 sound is a solid save for some incomprehensible dialogue. The disc is also generously stuffed with extras, including photo and poster galleries, trailers, cast and crew biographies, and extended home video footage. An alternatively jokey and informative commentary track with Micheli, Epper, and Bell proves that these women take stuntwork -- but not themselves -- very seriously.

Over 50 minutes of deleted scenes form almost a separate documentary. Kill Bill fanatics will relish three segments focusing on the stuntwork in Tarantino's grindhouse opus. Extended interviews with Lucy Lawless and Lynda Carter are insightful, but the movie is perfectly encapsulated when interviewee Steven Spielberg indignantly claims that women should be given a shot at stunt coordinating but is left befuddled when asked why he's never hired one.
-- Colin Miller