The meteoric rise, calamitous crash and remarkable endurance of US champion snowboarder Kevin Pearce are related with nerve-wracking immediacy in Lucy Walker’s (Waste Land) doco. “Enthralling.” — Screendaily
Enthralling, exciting and subtly moving documentary; a fascinating glimpse into the world of competitive snowboarding.
Screened as part of NZIFF 2013
The Crash Reel 2013
The meteoric rise, calamitous crash and remarkable endurance of US champion snowboarder Kevin Pearce are related with nerve-wracking immediacy in Lucy Walker’s (Waste Land) documentary. Like any extreme sports addict – and Pearce hails from a family of them – he brings a load of spectacular footage to his cine-biographer, hours of videos shot on course and off since he was a kid. Walker uses the material expertly to show us how Pearce found his element on the slopes. We also see how a turbo-charged sports industry goads its adrenalin junkies constantly, to go harder, to take ever greater risks. Little encouragement may be required: the action footage conveys the exhilaration of danger the way Trainspotting once showed the thrill of Class A drugs. The cold turkey here is a whole lot tougher, and The Crash Reel provides an intensely moving portrait of Pearce’s family pulling him through a recuperation he’s not always convinced will pay off. “By turns pulse-quickening and contemplative, The Crash Reel is a thoroughly winning portrait.” — Rob Nelson, Variety