Being Evel

Evel Knievel grew up in Butte, Montana, and started jumping on a motorcycle at the end of the sixties. He soon became one of the best known names in America; millions watched his white leather suit, his starred helmet and the bones he broke on every jump. What people talked about was less how many cars he cleared than how he got up when he fell. The documentary tells that rise from the beginning. But the film does not stay on the good side. In 1977 Knievel beat his former manager Shelly Saltman, who had written a book about him, with a baseball bat and broke the man's arm. He pleaded guilty and served six months. Every sponsor, Harley-Davidson included, pulled out, and he went bankrupt shortly after. Figures like Johnny Knoxville, Tony Hawk and Travis Pastrana describe how he influenced them. Daniel Junge directed. A hundred minutes.