AUSXIP Lucy Lawless Files - Flawless Print

The San Francisco Bay Guardian

20-26 April 2005

Volume 39, Number 29

Review of Double Dare

*Double Dare "Being a little crazy definitely helps," veteran stuntwoman Jeannie Epper explains of her profession early in Amanda Micheli's winning documentary. Double Dare follows Epper (most colorfully, Lynda Carter's double on Wonder Woman – but her impressively varied credits include 2 Fast 2 Furious and Romancing the Stone) and newcomer Zoë Bell, a New Zealander who hopes to parlay her experience doubling for Lucy Lawless on Xena: Warrior Princess into big-screen success.

When Bell visits Hollywood, she becomes fast friends with Epper, a role model who dispenses the kind of valuable advice that can only be learned from five decades of dodging cars, falling from buildings, taking punches, and being lit on fire (not to mention navigating, with equal parts delicacy and aggression, the male-dominated stunt world). With insights from the likes of Spielberg and Tarantino, fun film clips, and behind-the-scenes Kill Bill footage (Bell's big break: doubling for Uma Thurman's Bride), Double Dare has plenty of showbiz sparkle – but it's also got equal amounts of heart. (1:21) Roxie.(Eddy)