E-Mail This Article to a Friend DOUBLE DARE

Newton native and Harvard grad Amanda Micheli likes fierce and fearless women. Her first documentary, Just for the Ride, was about cowgirls. Double Dare focuses on two professional stuntwomen, the legendary Jeannie Epper, who did the tough stuff for Lynda Carter in Wonder Women in the ’70s, and Zoë Bell, who stood in for Lucy Lawless when barbarian butt kicking got rough in Xena: Warrior Princess. Micheli shows the technical side of the stunts — flips, falls, swordfights, karate chops, window leaps — but she also considers the resilience a woman in the business needs to prove every day that she’s just as tough as any guy. Juxtaposing the two women was a good decision: Epper takes Bell under her wing, and the connection is immediate and warm. Noting Bell’s lip ring, Epper asks how she gives blow jobs. Bell whispers back that she gives great head. "I think she’s one of us," Epper says to some fellow stuntwomen. The aging stuntster continues to angle for jobs, and Bell gets picked to be Uma Thurman’s stunt double in Kill Bill. These women chisel out an identity for themselves without sacrificing their femininity. (81 minutes)