The Stunt Driver (2026) – Review
Watched at the Toronto International Film Festival
Quick Thoughts
- Jay Baruchel is excellent.
- I like the distinction between “Stunt Driver” and “Daredevil.”
- It starts hot and eventually loses speed. It’s a worthwhile trip, though.
- The Michael Dowse/Jay Baruchel Goon reunion made me happy.
- Ben Foster makes everything better.
- It made me want to rewatch Shoresy. I like knowing Laurence Leboeuf is in it.
When my window opened to get TIFF press tickets, I immediately snagged a seat for the world premiere of The Stunt Driver because I had a feeling the Jay Baruchel/Michael Dowse team wouldn’t let me down. Goon (directed by Dowse and co-written by Baruchel) is one of my favorite films, and I’ve always admired how it’s simultaneously sweet, crass, bloody, and nice. The idea of Jay Baruchel playing Ken “The Mad Canadian” Carter, a legendary cross-eyed Canadian stuntman who planned to jump a mile-long section of the Saint-Laurent River, sounded too good to miss.
The Stunt Driver focuses on Ken Carter, a famous Canadian stunt driver (who hates being called a daredevil) who attempted one of the most insane/implausible/impractical jumps in human history. His planned Saint-Laurent River jump in a custom rocket-powered Lincoln Continental capable of 280 MPH made worldwide news and was initially intended to screen on ABC’s Wide World of Sports. However, multiple delays and construction woes (cracked asphalt roads on the giant ramp built for the jump) pushed the jump back a few years. Using footage from the 1981 documentary The Devil at Your Heels, the film is shot in a documentary style that gives us an intimate look at the mayhem of trying to jump a Lincoln Continental over a mile-long gap.
Whether it’s watching Carter react to his first test drive, which hit 240 MPH, or his bickering with Evel Knievel (Ben Foster – great), the film starts fast and fun, but when the jump gets delayed multiple times, the movie sits idly for large chunks of its running time. It’s always enjoyable, but the relatively short 99-minute runtime feels longer than the one-mile gap Carter plans on jumping. The supporting cast is strong with Ed Helms, Ben Foster, Laurence Leboeuf, Dan Bakkedahl, Joe Cobden, and Marc Beaupré, getting a few memorable moments, but they get lost in the chaos and delays.
Tonally, the film isn’t as successful as Goon. However, Véronique Marchessault’s costume design and Sara Mishara’s cinematography (which juggles three aspect ratios) create a unique look and make the tiny-budgeted film look impressive. It’s also admirable how Dowse turned The Stunt Driver into an interesting experiment blending doc footage with new material to create a neat hybrid film.
