50/50 challenge. Movie #1: Beauty Day

Beauty Day is a documentary film about Ralph Zavadil, the Canadian T.V. personality known as Cap’ N Video. As the film states, he did stuff “Tom Green” and “Jackass” would later become famous for, but he did it first. We meet Zavadil and we learn about his history, we see the footage of Zavadil breaking his neck attempting to jump from a ladder into a covered pool, working as his friend’s shop, and we meet the people in his life, his friends, his mother, an ex and his child.

This is the feature debut of film podcaster Jay Cheel. Jay is one of the co-host of FilmJunk not just my favorite movie podcast, but I think my favorite podcast period. Jay is one of the few critics I take seriously when it comes to film reviews. When a new movie comes out, I look forward to hearing what FilmJunk has to say, just as much as I look forward to Ebert or any other established critic. That being said, it can be difficult for someone to go from critical to creative and have it work. Would “Beauty Day” be a good movie?

I’m happy to say that I really liked “Beauty Day.” Quite a lot actually. It’s a film with a good amount of laughs, an interesting story and a lot of heart. Also Cheel shoots the film in a very cinematic way. It’s not just talking heads (thought that stuff is great), they’re shots of Zavadil walking to work, or driving his van set to music, the stuff exploding, the shots of the VHS inside the VCR in particular, great stuff. Cheel understands that documentaries are in fact films and should be entertaining in some fashion. And at the core of this film, is a story about a creative man trying to live the life he wishes to live. There’s something to these stories that always hit me. People who buck the trend to go pursue their dreams. To throw caution to the wind, even if everyone is saying you shouldn’t. Even if it’s not the social norm. Even if that dream consist of snorting eggs and lighting your face on fire for the entertainment of others. Seeing people talk about Ralph you get the idea that he uses the Cap N’ as a form of expression, a way to present himself to the world. Outside of the character, you get the feeling Ralph is a pretty good guy. Someone you wouldn’t mind sitting around and shooting the shit with. Often you will see Ralph smoking a cigarette, or drinking a beer. And he doesn’t mind using a swear word or two. He’s just a normal dude who likes to do crazy things.

The highlights of the film come in the 2nd half, where Zavadil starts shooting a 20th anniversary special of Cap N’ Video. The scenes where he and his friend Robert try to work out the logistics of filming some of the Cap N’s stunts. I could have watched scene after scene of these two bickering, laughing and trying to figure stuff out. It’s a strong friendship and that comes through in a big way in this film.

And at 90 minutes, the film is tight, it rolls out the information in wonderfully handled ways. Everything could have been spit out in ten minutes on who Zavadil was and what he did. Then get to the 20th anniversary. Thankfully the film doesn’t do that. It takes its time. You find out more and more about Zavadil as the film goes on, getting you more and more interested in the man.

I truly enjoyed “Beauty Day.” It’s a sort of feel good movie where it ends and you have a smile on your face. You want to jump to the computer and start watching Cap N’ Video clips on youtube. Can’t recommend it enough.