(On Cable TV, March 2021) As with most Canadians with a Cable TV subscription, I have seen an almost-endless series of “I am [Dead person’s name]” movies scroll in the program guide, but never watched one before I Am Evel Knievel. I may have let an interesting series pass me by — As a documentary, I Am Evel Knievel is a very entertaining look at a multi-decade life with a clearly defined arc. Knievel started out as nothing much more than a hoodlum, accumulating an extensive criminal record before discovering a talent for motorcycle stunts and self-promotion. Jumping over increasing distances with a stock motorcycle, Knievel grew to national fame thanks to some fruitful relationship with good promoters and producers, and by the early 1970s was commanding large audiences, TV shows, substantial merchandizing profits (much of it spent on frivolous pursuits) and even a movie featuring “him.” (Viva Knievel! is, frankly, what rekindled my interest in I Am Evel Knievel — you can’t watch it in all of its unabashed awfulness and not want to know more about the character.) This all came crashing down in the mid-1970s thanks to a combination of bad crashes and the ill-advised physical assault against a promoter who wrote an unauthorized book about him. Later years in Knievel’s life were spent becoming a better person, rediscovering faith and being focused on others. This is all told through an effective blend of documentary footage and interviews with acquaintances and friends blending together in a kind of oral history. The film is rarely as entertaining as when it blends snippets of interviews to give a richer account of specific events in Knievel’s life, such as when he was assaulted by a Hells Angel at the end of a show and several people came to his rescue. Knievel was a grander-than-life character and the film does lean into this mythology. It’s important to note that the drawback to a friends-and-family oral history is that you don’t get much of a critical perspective—while Knievel’s faults are acknowledged, I Am Evel Knievel presents them with a wink and a nod—he was a former felon, a womanizer, a spendthrift, and an alcoholic but (wink-nod) that’s what made him great, right? Alas, this means that he often gets a pass on things that should not be forgiven — the baseball bat physical assault that drove his victim to the hospital with broken bones and precipitated the end of Knievel’s lucrative sponsorship deals is actually defended by many interviewees in the film’s lowest point. Knievel’s naïve conservative worldview is hailed as admirable (reinforced by trite quotations shown on-screen) and there’s an anachronistic “here’s a real man, the likes of which we’ll never see again” atmosphere to the entire thing. Celebrities interviewed for the film include Matthew McConaughey, Kid Rock, Michelle Rodriguez and Guy Fieri. The film is on much stronger grounds when professional motorcycle stuntmen explain the immense risks Knievel took in jumping with a stock motorcycle, not bothering with the risk-reducing techniques and equipment that modern daredevils use to protect themselves. Furthermore, I am Evel Knievel does manage to cram enough information on-screen to allow viewers to make up their own minds — even if it’s a mildly critical line or two that is not seriously followed-up in the hagiographic whole of the film. Even if you’re not quite seduced by the character, it is a biography that does justice to a fascinating life.
