MPAA Rating: PG-13/Genre: Action Comedy/Stars: Ryan Gosling, Emily Blunt, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Winston Duke, Hannah Waddingham, Teresa Palmer, Stephanie Hsu, Lee Majors, Heather Thomas, Jason Momoa/Runtime: 126 minutes
If you were to ask me dear reader what group of hardworking individuals on a motion picture set don’t get nearly as much love as they really ought to when taking into account all that they do for the film industry, there is one group that immediately comes to mind (and no it’s not the caterers). That group being the stunt people. Now for those of you who don’t know, or don’t have access to Wikipedia or Google at the moment, a stunt person’s job on a film set (unless Tom Cruise is the lead actor) is to (hopefully) operate as a trained professional and undertake risky and quite often perilous acts that add to both the excitement and realism of whatever project that they are working on. In other words dear reader: these are the people who literally are willing to put their life on the line and be in the car that’s about to do 5 million flips so Jason Statham’s chrome dome doesn’t get a scratch on it. Or, to name another example, they are the ones who are willing to be in the scene at the end where the bad guy and the good guy have the final bout of rather brutal fisticuffs and take the punches that are supposed to be inflicted on, for whatever reason, Keanu Reeves (which really doesn’t make much sense since he’s such a sweet guy). Suffice it to say then that, for all the incredible and genuinely death-defying work that these brave men and women do for both their land of movie magic counterparts to say nothing of the general movie going public the question still remains: why on Earth do these people not get the love, to say nothing of respect, that they really ought to be getting? Yet while the people out there, myself included, wait for the day when the rest of Hollywood finally gets its act together and starts giving these individuals the recognition that they are rightfully owed (starting with their own award category at the Academy Awards would be an especially nice touch wink wink), we did manage to get a fairly sweet consolation prize to keep us satisfied in the meantime. That being the new slice of cinema, and film I happen to be reviewing for you today incidentally, The Fall Guy. A film that, in addition to being directed by a former stuntman in the form of David Leitch, deals with the world of moviemaking in a manner that hasn’t been this fun since the underrated dark comedy The Player from Robert Altman in 1992 albeit through the lens of a stuntman rather than a studio exec as in the latter. Just like the latter however, I must confess that I absolutely enjoyed the heck out of this movie. To be sure it’s not a flawless film by any stretch, but even so, and with the aid of solid work both behind and in front of the camera, The Fall Guy is definitely a vibrant, lively, and truly charming movie that should satisfy everyone from the action aficionado to the aspiring filmmaker and every single person in between in equal measure.
The plot is as follows: A loose adaptation of an iconic TV show from the 80s that starred Lee Majors, The Fall Guy gets its action-packed narrative underway by introducing us to our main character who takes the form of a guy by the name of Colt Seavers. A guy who, among other things worth knowing about him, is the incredibly skilled stuntperson for one of the biggest stars in the film industry in the form of a more than slightly vain A-list action hero named Tom Ryder. Suffice it to say that when you also factor in a truly one-in-a-million relationship with a camera operator by the name of Jody Moreno it would definitely appear that the sky (or perhaps in his case falling out of it) would truly be the limit here for our intrepid hero. Sadly however that is not the case as we see that it isn’t long into our story before, during the shooting of what is supposed to be a typical stunt, something goes seriously awry. As a result, not only our hero is severely injured physically, but it also sees him shattered to such an extent psychologically that he makes the choice to inexplicably throw both his career and his relationship down the drain and leave both of them as far in the rearview mirror as he possibly can. Moving ahead about a solid year and a half, we soon see that our hero has made the choice to work in relative anonymity as a valet when he finds himself being approached by a woman named Gail Meyer. A woman who is the producer of a movie being filmed in this film’s universe called Metalstorm and which also happens to be a movie that is being directed by none other than our hero’s former lady love Jody. We soon learn that the reason Gail is approaching our hero is because it seems that Jody is extending him an invite to come back into the stuntperson fold so to speak and work on the movie which is currently being filmed in no less a locale than Sydney, Australia. Yet, upon making his way to the set, we watch as Colt discovers that not only is Jody still very much t’d off about how their relationship crashed and burned, but also that she in no way asked for him to make his presence known. It is then that we discover that the real reason our hero is here is because it seems that the actor Colt used to do stunts for has vanished without a trace after becoming caught up in narcotics and Gail would like Colt to track him down before the studio gets wind of his disappearance and pulls the plug on the film. Yet when Colt’s poking around sees him land smack dab in the middle of a legit criminal investigation, can our intrepid hero use his training and ingenuity to not only get to the bottom of this mystery, but also locate Ryder and save his lady love’s film or is this one stunt he doesn’t have a prayer of pulling off? That I shall leave for you to discover…..
Now right off, it should be said that the work done behind the camera on this cinematic outing is nothing short of top-tier. This begins with the work done at the helm by David Leitch and he is top form here. To no surprise, I hope, this starts with this slice of cinema’s action beats and honestly his work on those is absolutely phenomenal. Indeed not only do they all look great (thanks in part to beautifully clear work done by the cinematography department as headed by Jonathan Sela who has worked on all of Leitch’s movies starting with the first John Wick back in 2014), but Leitch pays ode to his own history in that respective corner of the industry by giving this film enough downright incredible action beats that I have no doubt even the most cynical of movie goers amongst are sure to be amazed by what you see unfurl on the screen in front of you. Indeed there aren’t that many directors who could pull this kind of work off with this level of skill and talent, but Leitch is most assuredly one of them. Yet, besides the taut and genuinely engaging action beats on display, perhaps the big surprise here is how well Leitch manages to handle the romantic component to this story. I say that because, for all the gruff I have been known to give romance films, there is no denying that the romantic part to this film is handled extremely well. No I am not about to say Leitch should just pick up where someone like Nora Ephron left off. Instead, I am saying that his comprehension of genre filmmaking is also able to brilliantly extend past edge of your seat action beats and apparently incorporate such iconic romance cinema elements including characters letting their pride deny them the chance to express their feelings toward other characters and permitting us to know about a couple’s issues than they do among others to such an extent that I *might* not be opposed to seeing what he could do if given the chance to make a full-fledged rom-com. Alongside the wonderful work done by Leitch, this slice of cinema is also blessed to have an incredibly well-written script as penned by Drew Pearce (Iron Man 3). Indeed not only is Pearce’s script delightfully brilliant especially when it comes to the world of moviemaking as a whole, but it’s also genuinely funny in regards to how meta and self-aware it is of the entertainment properties that it’s both lovingly poking fun at and honoring at the same time. Yet even though I enjoyed this aspect of the film I can without a doubt see how this might prove to be a bit of a headscratcher at best and downright annoying at worst for some audiences who might not be as familiar with the world of filmmaking so I definitely think it’s worth keeping in mind. Lastly, I would be amiss if I didn’t take some time to talk about the incredible musical accompaniment to this film. Indeed not only does it lovingly incorporate music from iconic 80s shows like Miami Vice, but it also gives us (among other examples) covers of such gems as I Was Made For Lovin’ You that are sure to leave you jamming out in your seat. Suffice it to say that, when you also incorporate terrific work from the editing department, there might be a few distinct potholes here and there, but thankfully the work that we are given by the incredibly skilled team behind the camera definitely helps to gloss over those potholes and ensure that this is a fairly smooth outing all things considered.
Alongside the genuinely wonderful work done behind the camera, this slice of cinema is also blessed with a collection of absolutely delightful performances in front of the camera by a roster of genuinely talented individuals. Without a question, this starts with Ryan Gosling and in the titular role he is phenomenal here. Indeed as Colt, we see that Gosling does a terrific job at merging together his roles in last year’s Barbie, Drive from 2011, and even the criminally underseen The Nice Guys from 2016 to give us a character here who is not only legitimately funny, but also down to earth and just plain decent guy who can do whatever is being asked of him yet also has no qualms about also being vulnerable especially when it comes to doing what he can to help his ex who he might still have a bit of a thing for. Indeed it’s a delightful performance and one that acts as further proof of Gosling’s comedic skill to say nothing of his undeniable talent as an actor. Working beautifully in synch with the work done here by Gosling is the performance being given by Emily Blunt. Indeed, as Jody, Blunt does a fantastic job at not only sharing terrific chemistry with Gosling, but also in giving us a character who was very much wounded by Colt’s disappearing act and finds, with his sudden reappearance in her life, very much torn between trying to keep things together on her film while also slowly rebuilding the relationship between her and Colt. Now backing up the work done here by both Gosling and Blunt is some truly fantastic efforts from an extremely well-chosen support cast. This starts with Winston Duke who, once again, shows he is a bonafide delight whenever he appears in something in the role of Colt’s close friend/Jody’s stunt coordinator Dan. Indeed not only is Duke genuinely funny here, but he and Gosling are given an action beat here where they take on a pack of bad guys together that manages to be both a highlight of the film overall to say nothing of a terrific audition reel for the rest of the land of movie magic to just give these two a chance to headline their own buddy action comedy. We are also treated to a delightfully smarmy and just plain stupid funny turn here from Aaron Taylor-Johnson as a movie star that seems to be a mix between Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, and (of all people) Matthew McConaughey plus a very sizable amount of both ego and insecurity for good measure. Indeed I can’t really go too much into detail about his role here due to spoilers, but trust me when I say that Taylor-Johnson is absolutely spot-on here. That latter detail incidentally could also be said about the work done in this by Hannah Waddingham who, in her role of Jody’s producer Gail, definitely feels like we are seeing what it would be like if her character Rebecca Welton from Ted Lasso was a lot goofier and maybe even a bit more cunning as well. Suffice it to say that when you also include solid work from such screen talents as Stephanie Hsu and Teresa Palmer (finally getting to be in a much better loose 80s adaptation here following her turn in the disastrous 2015 remake of Point Break) among others it’s clear that this film might have some miniscule issues here and there, but this is one cast that definitely helps both make up for them and even enable this film to soar to the level that it is ultimately able to attain.
All in all and at the end of the day is The Fall Guy a perfect slice of cinema? Sadly no though not due to lack of effort on the part of either its talented cast or crew. With that being said, is this the worst film since Emily Blunt signed on to The Huntsman: Winter’s War or Ryan Gosling was in The Notebook? Thankfully no though in the case of the latter example I promise you that I am joking about that being a bad movie….possibly. All sarcastic comments aside, I can definitely say without a doubt in my mind that I absolutely love this movie and not only would be more than willing to go see it multiple times in theaters either by myself or with family and friends, but also buy it when it comes out on home media (though not at Target or Best Buy since DVDs/ Blu-Rays are no longer being sold at those stores for some weird reason). Indeed the work done behind the camera is really solid especially when it comes to everything from Leitch’s work at the helm, the jam-worthy score, the incredible cinematography, and (big surprise coming your way here) the action beats which are both jaw-dropping in terms of their execution and an absolute blast to behold and the performances given by the cast of talent in front of the camera are all just as delightful, with particular regard to the ones given by Gosling and Blunt, no matter how big or small their role in the film may be. Suffice it to say then that it might be a wee bit on the confusing side at times, but overall The Fall Guy is more than just a funny, surprisingly romantic, rousing, and well-done crowd pleaser that you and the aspiring stunt people in your own life are sure to have an absolute blast watching from beginning to end. Nor for that matter is this a film that should simply be seen, however erroneously, as a cinematic source of inspiration for you and your friends to try and do the various stunts that you see Ryan Gosling and others perform in this movie yourselves. I mean there IS a reason why disclaimers were invented and the hospital bills you would be stuck with paying would definitely qualify as part of that reason. Rather, this film is also one that serves a wonderful and extremely well-made love letter to a group within the land of movie magic that honestly doesn’t get nearly as much love or respect as they truthfully ought to have been getting since the moment an individual first came up with a story to be filmed before then choosing to picking up a camera and yelling “action!”. Make of that what thou will dear reader. On a scale of 1-5 I give The Fall Guy “2024” a solid 4 out of 5.
