One of the things I’ve always admired about Jay Baruchel is how, when he makes a Canadian movie, it’s defiantly Canadian. A lot of English Canadian films are set in these vaguely American places, with the idea being that they want to export the films and Americans won’t want to watch films about Canada. That idea has been pretty clearly dismissed with the success of Matt Johnson’s movies and, of course, a little show called Heated Rivalry. But Baruchel was ahead of the curve, appearing in movies like Goon and BlackBerry, both of which were openly Canadian and, not coincidentally, among the most successful English Canadian films ever made.
Baruchel has reteamed with his Goon director, Michael Dowse, for another movie that takes a peek at an unusual Canadian story — The Stunt Driver. It’s the true story of Canadian daredevil Ken Carter, who tried to jump a rocket-powered car across a mile-long span of the St. Lawrence River. It was depicted in a famous NFB documentary called The Devil at Your Heels, and it gets the big-screen treatment here.
I was lucky enough to sit down with Baruchel, as well as his director, Michael Dowse, and co-star Ed Helms, who plays an atypical dramatic (and strong) role as the man who designed Carter’s car. We chatted in person at TIFF following the world premiere of the film about everything from Dowse and Baruchel’s shared passion to tell the story, how the American star Helms came on board, and the unique way it’s shot, mixing 1.33:1 16mm footage with 2.35:1 hypersharp lensing.
The Stunt Driver opens on Friday! Check out my review!