THE FALL GUY (2024)
Updated: May 8
Where the Ultimate Stunt is Finding Love Again.
Grade: A
The Fall Guy is exactly the kind of blockbuster the modern cinema needs. It is a fun, good-natured action comedy bolstered by the performances and chemistry of the two main leads, Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt. Based on a TV series from the 1980s, it tells the timeless story of how an unsung hero became a hero who by the end is still pretty much unsung but is happy all the same.
Gosling plays Colt Seavers, a longtime stunt double for action superstar Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson). After being injured in an accident on-set, Colt disappears from the film industry and the life of his girlfriend, Jody Moreno (Blunt). Two years later, Colt gets a call from producer Gail Meyer (Hannah Waddingham), telling him that Jody wants him to come back to do the stunts for her directorial debut in Sydney. Hoping to rekindle his romance with Jody, Colt agrees, but finds himself in the middle of a deadly conspiracy when Ryder goes missing. It isn’t long before his skills as a stuntman are put to the ultimate test.
The film is directed by David Leitch, who had previously filmed 2022’s Bullet Train. Although loaded with action, that film was also too heavy on plot and runtime. The Fall Guy, on the other hand, has just the right amount of story. There are times where the movie is practically self-aware, referencing other action flicks. But the best meta moments come when Leitch inserts several classic set pieces commonly associated with stunt work (car chases, exploding motorboat, etc.) into the plot, and the results are thrilling.
But even with these scenes, the movie wouldn’t be nearly as good without the actors and their on-screen camaraderie. Gosling and Blunt are great together; Colt desperately wants Jody back (at one point he yearns for her while listening to Taylor Swift) and is willing to do whatever it takes to make sure she finishes the movie and becomes a breakout director. A split-screen sequence of them talking on the phone, parallelling their situation with the characters in the new movie, is sweet and well-executed. Later, when Colt is framed for the murder of another stuntman, a horrified Jody is desperate to clear his name. Dan Tucker (Winston Duke), the stunt coordinator and Colt’s friend, also wants to help him and leads the stunt team against a horde of hired goons in the film’s climax.
It is this level of sympathy in the characters that buoys the film. The story is not exactly unpredictable; we can pretty much guess that Colt did not blow up in that motorboat explosion, and that everything will work out between him and Jody. But we’ve grown to like these characters, and that makes the payoff, however predictable, all the more satisfying.
Not everything in The Fall Guy is perfect. Colt and Jody reminiscing about their past goes on a little too long, and the scene where Colt is drugged and starts seeing unicorns feels like it belongs in a different movie. But watching the overall product, you won’t really mind. Just check it out, and be ready to laugh, cry, and scream with excitement.
Director: David Leitch
Screenplay: Drew Pearce (Based on the Television Series Created by Glen A. Larson)
Producers: Kelly McCormick, David Leitch, Ryan Gosling, Guymon Casady
Cast: Ryan Gosling (Colt Seavers), Emily Blunt (Jody Moreno), Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Tom Ryder), Hannah Waddingham (Gail Meyer), Teresa Palmer (Iggy Starr), Stephanie Hsu (Alma Milan), Winston Duke (Dan Tucker)
Comments