The Stunt Man 1980

As Cameron, a troubled Vietnam veteran with a bounty on his head, makes a bold escape from the authorities, he unwittingly steps into a world of cinematic deception. While evading an assassin’s vehicle, he notices a helicopter overhead, piloted by the enigmatic director Eli Cross, who watches him with a calculating gaze. Soon after, Cameron finds himself intrigued by a World War I film set where he witnesses Nina Franklin, the lead actress, testing her character’s aged look. In a moment of heroism, he plunges into the water to rescue her, oblivious to the fact it’s just a rehearsal for a crucial scene.

The opportunistic Eli descends on his camera crane, presenting Cameron with a chance to step in as the film’s new stuntman. The stakes are high, especially since the previous stuntman, Burt, met a tragic end during a similar stunt, and Eli is desperate to keep production moving amid ongoing police investigations. Persuaded by Eli’s crafty words, Cameron reluctantly accepts the role. However, his sense of loyalty wavers when he uncovers footage suggesting he was never at the bridge when Burt perished.

As Denise the hair stylist revamps Cameron to resemble leading man Raymond Bailey, his paranoia regarding Eli’s motives escalates. Despite reassurances from Chuck, the stunt coordinator, Cameron is plagued by discomfort, compounded by his growing affection for Nina, who has a complicated past with Eli that only adds tension to the mix.

As the production approaches its final location, tension mounts in Cameron’s most dangerous stunt: a dramatic leap from a bridge, mirroring Burt’s fatal fall. The irony is unmistakable, and Cameron intends to turn this perilous act into a ploy that will allow him to feign his own death and evade Eli’s potential assassination attempts.

On the brink of this reckoning, Cameron reveals to Nina his long-lost aspiration to open an ice cream shop with a buddy back in Vietnam, a dream that ended in betrayal and violence. That incident spiraled into an altercation with a responding officer, which resulted in an attempted murder charge against him. As a getaway plan unfolds, Nina suggests hiding in the trunk of their escape vehicle, and Cameron resolves to abandon it at the bridge instead of taking the leap.

In a twist of fate, Chuck clandestinely sabotages one of the tires to create a more believable crash, but Cameron’s eagerness leads him to initiate the stunt prematurely. With the triggered tire explosion sending the car into the water, Cameron desperately attempts to reach Nina, who’s trapped in the trunk. Just as despair settles in, he glimpses Nina in a tender embrace with Eli on the bridge—an image that sends him reeling.

Surviving the wreckage, Cameron finds his air supply dwindling, yet he fights to free himself from the car. In a shocking turn, he discovers divers had been stationed nearby this whole time. Nina, hidden in the trunk for hours, reveals that Eli was aware of Cameron’s scheme all along—an unmasking that forces Cameron to reconsider their dynamic.

Eli explains his deliberate deception; he believed ensuring Cameron’s survival was the only way to prove his genuine intentions. Initially full of rage, Cameron’s emotions shift to amusement as he processes the ridiculousness of the scenario. As tensions ease, Cameron and Eli engage in a heated discussion regarding compensation for his ordeal before they prepare to continue their journey to the film’s next location.