“The Fall Guy” Review
Ryan Gosling (Left) plays a stunt performer trying to win back his director ex-girlfriend (Emily Blunt) in “The Fall Guy”, the first big film of the summer blockbuster season from director David Leitch.
There’s a story that, at this year’s Golden Globe Awards, Ryan Gosling was approached by Steven Spielberg who Gosling had never met. Spielberg had managed to see Gosling’s new film “The Fall Guy” two months before its March premiere at the South by Southwest Film Festival and felt this urge to walk up to the film’s star to tell him how much he loved the film. Not only is this a heartwarming tale involving one of my favorite actors and favorite directors, but it shows just how refined Spielberg’s taste is. “The Fall Guy” is, without a doubt, a phenomenal way to kick off the summer blockbuster season with a level of action-fueled excitement that big-budget cinema was made for.
Based on the 1980s series of the same name, stuntman Colt Seavers (Ryan Gosling) is the double for action star Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) on the set of the science-fiction blockbuster “Metalstorm” which is being directed by up-and-coming filmmaker Jody Moreno (Emily Blunt). Not only is the situation complicated when it’s revealed that Colt and Jody were once an item but the production is about to fall into disaster when Ryder disappears from the set with suspicions that he’s fallen in with a nefarious crowd. Unwilling to let Jody’s film fail, Colt takes on a request from the film’s producer (Hannah Waddingham) to find Ryder which leads to a series of action-packed, hilarious encounters as Colt finds himself in a mess of cinematic proportions.
For some reason, everyone but the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences agrees that stunt performers and stunt coordinators are more than worthy of winning Oscars. It’s this very problem that “The Fall Guy” addresses that makes the message of the film pretty clear: give stunt performers and stunt coordinators Oscars already. If the Academy doesn’t, Tom Cruise is just going to keep doing incredible stunts until they eventually cave or he kills himself. In all seriousness, “The Fall Guy” is pulsating with love for the stunt community and all the hard work they put into making films.
Much like “Tropic Thunder”, “The Fall Guy” offers a comedic take on the production of a massive Hollywood film but this film really goes into the nitty gritty of how a set for an action film functions and how much work goes into pulling off these dangerous setups safely. Seeing a movie about making movies never gets old to me for obvious reasons but that’s not the only reason to get behind it. Directed by David Leitch, this filmmaker has spent the last decade churning out some excellent action films including “Bullet Train”, “Deadpool 2” and “John Wick” (codirected with Chad Stahelski). Before that, Leitch worked as a second unit director and also spent 15 years doing stunt work. This is a man who has spent years putting in the hard work that often goes unnoticed while making a film. That’s why “The Fall Guy” was made and it excels.
As Colt Seavers, previously played by the iconic Lee Majors, Ryan Gosling is ridiculously charismatic and hilarious. As good as Gosling is as a dramatic actor (his performance in “La La Land” was a driving force for me wanting to become a filmmaker), he falls into the same camp as Bryan Cranston or Jack Nicholson by being even better with comedy. In “The Fall Guy”, Gosling is the funniest he’s been since 2016’s “The Nice Guys” which is saying a lot considering that his performance in “Barbie” nabbed him an Oscar nomination. His commitment to the role is admirable and he gives everything to this performance. When he needs to be romantic with Emily Blunt, the chemistry is leaping off of the screen. When he needs to be an action badass, Gosling took on a massive workload of stunts while also working with an incredible team of four stunt performers. When he needs to be funny, he had me in stitches, especially with him brooding in his car to a Taylor Swift song. You all know which one.
Gosling and Blunt’s chemistry and engaging romance is one of the best forces behind “The Fall Guy’s” success.
Emily Blunt is also wonderful as a driven filmmaker who serves as a perfect foil to Gosling. With the pair having a romantic relationship that didn’t end well, Jody’s comedic animosity to Colt is marvelous with Jody using their positions on the film to take joy in distilling a bit of revenge. After all, how many women have the opportunity to set their ex-boyfriend on fire with the knowledge that they won’t be killed? As an aspiring filmmaker, I was taken with the passion she has for the job and with how creative she was in finding solutions to her unreliable leading man’s absence. With Gosling, their chemistry is positively infectious which is really saying something when you know just how adorable Blunt is with her real-life husband John Krasinski and Gosling with his partner Eva Mendes.
Armed with a multi-faceted screenplay by Drew Pearce, Leitch crafts an action extravaganza with numerous exciting sequences. Along with talented faces like Stephanie Hsu, Hannah Waddingham and Winston Duke, everyone in this film has the opportunity to kick ass on more than one occasion. Like “Bullet Train” and “Deadpool 2”, the set-ups often border on the ridiculous and present plenty of comedic possibilities. However, the sense of danger is still present and, like many of the great stunts in “John Wick”, when people are punched or kicked or beaten, you feel that pain.
As for the climax, it went on much longer than I thought. Just when I thought the film was going to end, it went on for ten more minutes. Normally I would say this in a negative manner, but this is actually a positive attribute. I didn’t want “The Fall Guy” to end and David Leitch made sure to give the audience everything that was worth the price of admission.
“The Fall Guy” is a guaranteed crowd-pleaser that ventures into action, comedy and romance and excels at all three. There’s something in this film for everyone and behind all of that is this sincerity towards the stunt community. With several months of exciting blockbusters on the horizon, “The Fall Guy” was a welcome start to summer fun at the movies.
