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''The Stunt Man'' is a 1980 [[GenreBusting Action-Comedy-Drama-Thriller-Romance]] film directed by Richard Rush, [[TheFilmOfTheBook based on]] Paul Brodeur's 1970 novel of the same name. It stars Creator/PeterOToole, Creator/SteveRailsback, and Creator/BarbaraHershey.

The story starts with a [[UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar Vietnam War]] veteran named Cameron (Railsback), who's wanted for attempted murder and on the run from the police. He runs onto a movie set and accidentally kills the stunt man. Director Eli Cross (O'Toole) offers to hide him if he'll take the stunt man's place. That, of course, is only the beginning.
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!! "If God could do the tropes that we can do, he'd be a happy man . . .":
* ClusterFBomb: Eli, when a cameraman says "Cut" because there were only 22 seconds of film left.
-->"In 22 seconds, I could break your fucking spine. In 22 seconds, I could pinch your head off like a fucking insect and spin it all over the fucking pavement. In 22 seconds, I could put 22 bullets inside your ridiculous gut. What I seem unable to do in 22 seconds is to keep you from fucking up my film!"
* CompositeCharacter: Eli Cross is a combination of Gottschalk the director and Bruno de Fe the cinematographer from the original novel.
* {{Documentary}}: 2000's ''The Sinister Saga of Making "The Stunt Man"''
* EnforcedMethodActing: A rare in-universe example--and a major part of the plot.
* IAmTheNoun:
-->'''Cameron''': "Hey, I know you. You're in the movies."
-->'''Nina''': "I *am* the movies."
* MeaningfulName: "Cameron" is close to "camera on", and "Eli Cross" has obvious [[AGodAmI religious implications]].
* MindScrew: Of the "blurring the lines between reality and fantasy" variation. This is not a film that you watch casually: it requires that you pay complete attention.
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: Creator/PeterOToole based his portrayal of Eli Cross on Creator/DavidLean, whom he'd worked with on ''Film/LawrenceOfArabia''.
%% * PrimaDonnaDirector: Eli Cross. He even rides around in his own helicopter.
* ShowWithinAShow: While the title is never spoken, the film being filmed is titled ''Devil's Squadron''.
* StuntDouble: InUniverse. It's right there in the title.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Bert, the stuntman Cameron accidentally killed. His body is never recovered, and aside from a cameraman freaking out (perhaps) about the death (see Mind Screw, above), the only consequence is Cross pretending that Cameron is Bert.
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