The Stunt Driver: Jay Baruchel Plays Montreal Daredevil Ken Carter
Michael Dowse Examines the Ambition Behind a Daring Canadian Stunt
In Michael Dowse’s The Stunt Driver, Jay Baruchel plays Ken Carter, a Montreal daredevil determined to drive a rocket-powered car across the St. Lawrence River. The proposed jump would take him from Ontario to New York. Based on Carter’s real undertaking, the film follows the long preparation rather than treating the jump as a single event.
Carter needs more than nerve. He needs a car capable of making the jump, a ramp, financial support and people willing to trust his judgment. Rocket-car engineer Dick Keller, played by Ed Helms, joins the effort. Ben Foster appears as Knievel, whose public profile gives Carter a rival to measure himself against. As plans grow more complicated, Carter must manage delays, doubt and the demands he places on those around him.
The Man Behind the Plan
Dowse wrote and directed the film after encountering Robert Fortier’s 1981 National Film Board documentary, The Devil at Your Heels. That earlier work recorded Carter’s preparation for the river jump. The feature takes its starting point from the historical record, but it is a dramatization, not a substitute for the documentary. Dowse has said that the film heightens the tension between Carter and Knievel. That creates conflict, but not every exchange should be taken as documented fact.
Baruchel’s Carter is interesting because his ambition has practical costs. He wants to be seen, but his plan depends on other people’s labor and patience. His confidence invites support, then tests it. The film’s comic approach leaves room for that discomfort. It asks what happens when a person keeps pursuing a goal after its risks become obvious to everyone involved.
That question matters beyond stunt driving. Carter’s project began with a specific challenge: make an unlikely jump work in real conditions. Each delay required another decision about time, money and trust. His persistence may speak to audiences who have faced public doubt about an unusual idea. At the same time, the story does not ask them to ignore expert concerns or put others at risk. Resolve is worth examining alongside responsibility. The Stunt Driver Interview - Jay Baruchel and Michael Dowse
Montreal, Memory and Ambition
The Stunt Driver also tells a Canadian story about visibility. Carter’s proposed route ended in the United States, and his rivalry with Knievel placed him against a performer with a much larger reputation. Those details give the film a useful cultural question: who gets remembered when two people seek attention for similar feats? Carter understood publicity, but he could not control how others would judge his plan or recall it later.
Dowse’s use of documentary material adds another layer to that question. Archival images preserve evidence of Carter’s era, while the feature gives actors space to interpret relationships and motives. For viewers unfamiliar with his life, the film can be an introduction. For those who know the documentary, it offers a chance to consider what changes when a real person becomes a scripted character.
Baruchel and Dowse have worked together before, but their shared history is not the main reason to watch. The stronger draw is the contrast between Carter’s public confidence and the uncertainty beneath it. His choices invite interest without demanding agreement. The story also resists an easy lesson about success: attention may motivate a person, but it cannot make a dangerous plan safe.
Why See It in a Theater
The Stunt Driver is now in theaters following its Toronto International Film Festival premiere. Seeing it with an audience offers room to respond to its humor and tension together, then talk about the decisions behind the stunt. Attend for a Canadian story that deserves closer examination, and for a film that treats ambition as a subject for discussion rather than simple praise. See it in a theater, bring a friend, and keep the conversation going afterward. Supporting independent film starts with showing up for distinctive stories and sharing the ones worth discussing.