My Cultural Diet

A 90-minute film in which the legendary Australian stuntman Grant Page sets himself on fire, jumps off insanely high places, launches himself through car windows, and pulls off other crazy stunts while expounding on his philosophy of stunt work? Yes and please. However, at least half of Stunt Rock is devoted to performances of the hard rock band Sorcery, a sort of Spinal Tap meets Led Zeppelin outfit who incorporates theatrical effects and stage magic into their concerts. (Fun fact: Director Trenchard-Smith was close to getting Foreigner in his film, but their touring obligations prevented that from happening.) Page is quite charming, especially when he dismisses the risks of rappelling down a cliff while on fire or casually does a high-wire act in the middle of the day. The behind-the-scenes look at his film-within-a-film turns Stunt Rock into something of a mockumentary, replete with a shady agent and a callous director who only cares about getting the shot, and a stuntman’s safety be damned. But the Sorcery sequences wear thin pretty quickly, and feel like they’re from an entirely different film. That said, it was amusing to watch entire families rock out to a band that sings of virgin sacrifices and the age-old battle between Merlin and Satan.

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