Being Evel

Dir: Daniel Junge

2015

****

During the introduction credits I noticed that Being Evel was a Dickhouse production. I immediately remembered that Dickhouse was the same production company that made the TV show Jackass and soon enough I saw Johnny Knoxville and Jeff Tremaine's names listed in the 'produced by' section and wondered what kind of documentary this would be. I was shocked even more so when Knoxville was one of the first talking heads to appear on screen and wondered whether the film was going to be a worthwhile use of my time. I know of Evel Knievel, I've seen photos, a few pieces of film etc but I didn't know that much about him in the scheme of things and I was interested to know more. Thankfully, it became apparent quite quickly that this was going to be a well-balanced and comprehensive account of his life, told by friends, family and those that worked closely with him throughout his career. Knoxville's nerdy appreciation of him is annoying, I can see why he worships him but it would have been a little better without him to be honest. That said, the interviews with Knievel's oldest friends that I think most documentary makers would have overlooked, were the strongest elements of the film. They explain that Evel (real name Robert) was born in the tough old town of Butte, Montana. Butte men were rough and tumble folk, arguments were settled outside and nonsense was not allowed. It's what helped shape Knievel as a young man. We hear how intelligent, focused and successful he was before his motorcycle career. He was a brilliant salesperson, breaking records for insurance companies. He only started doing motorcycle stunts when he worked as a Honda salesman but soon the daredevil lifestyle and his 'Evel' persona took over. Turns out he wasn't a particularly nice man who did some pretty nasty things. He's dead now, and no one speaks ill of the dead, especially not in documentaries of this type but here people are quite honest. People blame the rich mixture of painkillers he was on, his rough upbringing and make excuses for him because he was an 'American hero' during a turbulent time in the country's history. An old friend interjects that people from Butte don't settle things with baseball bats and his long suffering ex-wife disputed his show of redemption in later life by simply stating that all he said was sorry, with no feeling, after over thirty years of marriage (he kidnapped her and forced her to marry him when she was in her teens), like that made it all better. For me, I have to wonder how things can get so bad that a rather mean and horrible person can come across like a hero like he did. I know that times were tough but how did watching a man do crazy life-threatening stunts make things better? Motorcycles are cool, always will be, but I don't see how he is a hero, it really is an overused word. What is for sure is that he was and is an iconic figure - a product of a bygone era, whether you like it or not. His toy sold millions, he tapped into something that's for sure, but unfortunately it eventually tapped into him. I was a little bit sad to find out that he was such a brute to be honest but certain elements of the film certainly made up for it and good on the makers for painting an honest picture, rather than a misguided love letter that missed out all the negative. I knew about his famous canyon jump in the rocket but I had no idea about the chaos that surrounded the event, the film is worth watching for this chapter alone.