Double Dare

Double Dare is a highly entertaining documentary that shines the spotlight on two Hollywood stunt women, Jeannie Epper and Zoe Bell. Epper has been in the business for almost fifty years (she was Lynda Carter’s double on Wonder Woman), while Bell is fairly new to the game – having worked alongside Lucy Lawless on Xena: Warrior Princess. The film follows both women as they go through their day-to-day lives, and even offers up some genuine suspense as Bell vies for a career-defining job as Uma Thurman’s double in the Kill Bill movies. In addition to the day-to-day stuff featuring Bell and Epper, Double Dare also features a brief look at the history of women stunt doubles in the movies (ie men generally filled such roles in the past). Part of what makes the film so enjoyable is the student/teacher relationship that begins to form between Epper and Bell. As we learn fairly early on, Epper’s family has been involved in the stunt business for years (Steven Spielberg reveals that on the set of 1941, “there were Eppers flying everywhere”), and Jeannie spends a lot of time helping Zoe out – even in the realm of training, as Zoe learns how to properly do a stunt dive. Double Dare shines the spotlight on a mostly unacknowledged but pivotal aspect of the movie industry, and director Amanda Micheli does a nice job of keeping the tone light and the pace quick.

*** out of ****