The Stunt Driver Movie Review: Jay Baruchel Goes Full Mad Canadian

Don’t call him a daredevil. Ken Carter hated that word. He was a stunt driver, thank you very much, and in the 1970s, he set out to do something no sane stunt driver — or daredevil, or anyone — should attempt: launch a rocket-powered car across a mile of the St. Lawrence River, from Canada into the United States, at 280 miles per hour.

The Stunt Driver tells his story, and it’s led by a performance that’s better than the movie surrounding it.

What’s It About

Jay Baruchel plays Carter, a cross-eyed dreamer from Montreal who spent 30 years chasing the kind of fame Evel Knievel already had. His plan for a grand finale was a rocket car jump across the St. Lawrence, timed to end his career with a bang instead of a whimper. To pull it off, he brings in rocket car designer Dick Keller (Ed Helms), leans on his wife Gloria (Laurence Leboeuf) for support she isn’t always sure she wants to give, and butts heads more than once with Knievel himself (Ben Foster).

The whole thing was documented in real life by the National Film Board of Canada, in a 1981 CBC film called The Devil at Your Heels. Director Michael Dowse uses that documentary as his jumping-off point, folding it directly into the film’s structure.

The Review

The best reason to watch The Stunt Driver is sitting in the driver’s seat. Baruchel throws himself into Ken Carter completely — the accent, the swagger, the beer gut, the specific mix of fear and showmanship it takes to actually consider strapping yourself into a rocket car. It’s a role that could’ve easily tipped into pure caricature in someone else’s hands. Baruchel finds an actual person in there instead.

Dowse, who also made the beloved hockey comedy Goon, clearly has a soft spot for lovable losers, and Carter fits that mold perfectly. The problem is the film can’t quite decide what kind of movie it wants to be around him. It’s not played as a straight comedy, even though Carter’s antics are often genuinely funny. It’s not quite a drama either, even in scenes that clearly want to be taken seriously — like Carter getting hypnotized to dig up the roots of his fear.

That tonal tug-of-war shows up most in the film’s script. Gloria’s character flips between supportive and worried scene to scene, without much reason behind the shift, and she ends up feeling more like a plot function than a real person. Dick Keller has a similar issue. Ben Foster fares better in his handful of scenes as Knievel, particularly an early confrontation between the two rivals that nearly turns into a brawl — genuinely one of the film’s best moments, even if it leaves you wanting more of him.

What Works Visually

Where The Stunt Driver really earns points is in its craft. The film mixes formats on purpose: the main movie is shot widescreen, while the documentary footage being made within the story is shown in old-school full frame, mimicking 16mm and 35mm textures from the era. Combined with strong period costume and production design — and interiors that look permanently fogged with cigarette smoke — it nails a very specific, lived-in ’70s feel.

The stunt sequences themselves carry real tension too, helped along by a score from Cristóbal Tapia de Veer that knows when to lean into the absurdity of the whole endeavor and when to just let the danger breathe.

Who This Is For

If you’re a Jay Baruchel fan, this is close to essential viewing — it might be the best showcase he’s had in years. Fans of Canadian underdog stories and offbeat sports biopics will find plenty to like too, especially in the film’s funnier hangout stretches between Carter and his crew.

Just go in knowing the film is more interested in its central character than in a tightly plotted script. If you need every supporting character to feel fully three-dimensional, a few of them here will let you down.

The Verdict

The Stunt Driver doesn’t fully stick the landing, but it comes close, mostly on the strength of Jay Baruchel refusing to let Ken Carter become a joke. It’s a film that loves its lead more than its screenplay deserves — messy, tonally scattered, but never boring, and anchored by a lead performance worth the price of admission on its own.

Rating: 3.5/5

Watch the Trailer

Quick Facts

• Title: The Stunt Driver
• Director/Writer: Michael Dowse
• Genre: Action / Comedy-Drama
• Runtime: 99 minutes
• Rated: R
• Starring: Jay Baruchel, Ed Helms, Ben Foster, Laurence Leboeuf
• World premiere: Toronto International Film Festival, September 2026
• US release: September 25, 2026

Where to Watch

The Stunt Driver opens in theaters on September 25, 2026, following its premiere at TIFF.

Final Thoughts

Ken Carter wanted the world to remember his name, even if it meant risking everything to get there. The Stunt Driver doesn’t always know how to tell that story, but thanks to Jay Baruchel, it makes you root for the guy anyway. Sometimes putting up a hell of a fight is enough.

Have you seen “The Stunt Driver”? Share your thoughts in the comments below.