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"Being Evel"

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U.S. Documentary

The documentary "Being Evel" is a fast and fun ride through the life of one of America's strangest icons, daredevil Robert Craig "Evel" Knievel. The movie moves briskly through Knievel's tough childhood in Butte, Mont., through his career as a motorcycle stunt rider, culminating in his much-hyped attempt to jump Idaho's Snake River Canyon in a rocket. Director Daniel Junge combines spectacular archive footage with a wealth of interviews with the motorcycle rider's family, friends and former entourage — some of whom had combative relationships with Knievel over the years. Knievel's influence on a generation of action-sports figures is stressed, in part with an indulgent running commentary by "Jackass" star Johnny Knoxville (one of the film's producers).

- Sean P. Means

"Being Evel" is screening in the U.S. Documentary competition of the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. It screens again: Thursday, 1 p.m., Redstone Cinema 2, Park City; Saturday, 11:30 a.m., Prospector Square Theatre, Park City.