The Fall Guy

Advocates of the studio’s long-standing appetite for films based on beloved television shows will have a strong case for The Fall Guy. An action-packed comedy that also holds romance is a genuinely amusing and satisfying summer blockbuster. With spectacular stunt work, prompt pacing, and charismatic performances by the film’s lead co-stars Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt, stuntman turned director David Leitch succeeds in delivering an action-packed blockbuster filled with romance and thrills.

Unlike many recent remakes or adaptations of old TV shows, this one doesn’t try adjusting to modern trends—the genuine love of the film comes from stunt performers, moviemakers, and actors who pay tribute to the magic, blood, sweat, and tears put into movies. The film holds many clever shoutouts to many great action films, ranging from the Jason Bourne movies to referencing scenes from Thelma and Louis and quoting classics such as Rocky and The Last of the Mohicans. The delightful chemistry between Gosling and Blunt merges the Barbenheimer co-stars and shows they are still in top form with their onscreen charisma.

Courtesy Universal Pictures

Fans of the action genre will be pleased with the action sequences and stunt work that consist of rolling cars, chase sequences, and jumping off helicopters. Cinephiles should please the film-within-a-film elements that lampoon Hollywood blockbusters, and the parody becomes such a large part of the fun. The romantic banter also helps bring this into a finely tuned summer blockbuster that delivers the escapism we all want from the summer blockbuster slate.

The film is about stuntman Colt Severs (Gosling), who is the stunt double Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), an egotistical A-List movie star who only cares about his own movie star charisma, even if it means taking control on set and demanding extra takes. Cold is a romantic “fling” with Jody Moreno (Blunt), a camera operator, and Colt appears to be in top form until a stunt goes awry, putting his career in limbo until his body recovers from the horrible accident. A year passes, and Colt is living in a minuscule apartment and works as a parking valet at a club, where he also gets all the burritos that he can eat. Jody wanted to be there for him, but his pride kept him distant from her, and he disappeared altogether. This negligence dissolved into a broken heart for Jody and eventually manifested regrets for Colt.

Courtesy Universal Pictures

Colt ends up being pressured back into the movies after he gets a call from Gail Meyer (Hannah Waddingham), a movie mogul and Hollywood movie producer who produces each of Tom Ryder’s action blockbusters. There is a new sci-fi action film being shot in Australia, in which Gail informs Tom that Jody is making her debut feature there and that she needs Colt to return to do Tom’s stunts. Like the title itself, Colt discovers he is part of a scheme that involves a dead body, a henchman, and Tom has mysteriously gone missing, and nobody on the crew besides Gail knows about this.

Meanwhile, as Gail sorts out David’s whereabouts, Colt ends up going on set and reconnecting with Jody. He is now taking stunt direction from his old best friend and stunt coordinator, Dan Tucker (Winston Duke), who loves quoting Hollywood classic movies. In between the takes, we learn that Jody is very bitter after being ghosted for a year, and Colt realizes he made a mistake in distancing himself from her. In a very hilarious exchange, Jody and Gail go over the backstory of the characters in the script, which is obviously a reflection of their relationship that Jody now dismisses as a fling, and Colt longs for Jody as she catches him listening to Taylor Swift’s All Too Well upon a day’s wrap of hard shooting.

Courtesy Universal Pictures

Leitch utilizes many other great songs throughout, including a cleverly edited cross-cutting sequence of Jody signing karaoke to Phil Collins Against All Odds as Colt’s late to their date after he ends up literally hanging onto his life on a garbage truck speeding through downtown Melbourne as he attempts to save Tom’s personal assistant’s (Stephanie Hsu) life as goons try to kill her for holding information on Tom’s disappearance. The plotting becomes implausible as it goes, and that’s part of the parody. The real spark here is Gosling’s charisma. This is a great actor who continues to showcase his versatility as an actor. Blunt is also terrific; often cast in emotional dramas and thrillers, Blunt proves she offers great wit as well.

You can sense the passion and spirit put into the film. This helps due to Leitch’s expertise as a former stuntman. The high-wire, gravity-defying set sequences are superbly staged as well. There are some similarities to the 1980 masterpiece The Stunt Man, as well as some visual references to James Bond and Jason Bourne. Ryan Gosling, as a producer, also puts great care into the material. It’s a love letter to stunt performers and how they are staged. This is quite a fast and entertaining summer movie that is very gratifying.

THE FALL GUY opens in theaters everywhere Friday, May 3rd.