The Stunt Driver Is a Worthy Tribute to Canada’s Daredevil

Evel Knievel was America’s daredevil. Ken Carter was Canada’s madman.

If you don’t know Carter’s name, Michael Dowse’s latest film The Stunt Driver is here to fix that. The Saint-Henri-born Canadian daredevil made a name for himself attempting increasingly ridiculous stunts, including jumping cars at over 250 mph, crashing through obstacles and, most famously, attempting to launch a rocket-powered car across the St. Lawrence River.

Based on the National Film Board documentary The Devil at Your Heels, the film follows Carter’s obsession with making the seemingly impossible possible. “You don’t drive these cars, you aim them,” says Dick Keller, the American rocket-car builder and engineer played by Ed Helms. That pretty much sums up the man’s philosophy.

Carter faced just about every obstacle imaginable. Funding disappeared, cars malfunctioned, weather refused to cooperate, and the possibility of death was always looming over the next stunt. Somehow, none of it convinced him to stop. What makes The Stunt Driver particularly Canadian is Carter’s pride in where he comes from. This wasn’t chasing fame, but a desire to prove that a Canadian could dream just as big as anyone else.