The Fall Guy

4 outta 5

The Fall Guy is an incredibly fun and funny action flick that has lots of zippy quips, brawls, and explosions. There are enjoyable performances, and spectacular stunts are awesomely presented with a sense of pizzaz from accomplished action director David Leitch (John Wick, Deadpool 2, Bullet Train). It might be a little too inside baseball for mass audiences as the story involves people making movies, and there’s several rapid references to behind-the-scenes filmmaking bits that would probably fly over the heads of some viewers, but as just a visceral action experience, it succeeds.

Colt (Ryan Gosling) is a stuntman working for the incredibly narcissistic actor, Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Colt’s life is going great as he is romancing a camera operator and aspiring director, Jody (Emily Blunt). Unfortunately, things come literally crashing down as Colt is injured on set in a disastrous fall. A couple of months later, Colt is working as a valet, and he receives a call from producer Gail (Hannah Waddingham) that she needs him on set in Australia to help out on Ryder’s new film. Somewhat awkwardly, the sci-fi epic titled Metalstorm is directed by Colt’s old flame, Jody. While the Stunt coordinator Dan (Winston Duke) tells Colt to get on with the show, Gail says Colt must track down Tom, who has gone missing for days. After brawling with a few drug dealers, Colt finds out that Tom has disappeared and finds a mysterious dead body in a hotel room. Even worse, soon Colt is framed for the crime and he needs to clear his name, all while awkwardly navigating reconnecting with Jody.

The film’s primary focus is action, with a lot of random asides about show business, a murder mystery and general weirdness sprinkled throughout. Also, the romantic bickering between Colt and Jody is a big part. Jody’s plot keeps her sidelined from participating in the action for most of the film, and sometimes it seems like Blunt is in a Hollywood workplace romantic comedy that is disconnected from the action romp. She finally gets to unleash action when Colt surprises her wearing a space alien outfit, so she kicks the bejesus out of him. There is a fun, if a bit too on-the-nose about filmmaking (that happens a lot here), where Jody calls up Colt and she asks him if there should be a split-screen scene between two characters that shows how separated emotionally they are and then, naturally, the film splits into a split screen. It’s cute although the best thing about the scene is that Colt is involuntarily tripping on narcotics and seeing unicorns. A scene that plays great is when Cole is crying in a car listening to Taylor Swift and Jody catches him and it becomes incredibly awkward.

Gosling is playing a stuntman who is also prone to a lot of loud freakouts, and he gets in a lot of comedic riffing, most of which is funny although there are a few lulls when one can tell the film was stitching together various improvs. Almost all his responses to just about anything is a sarcastic quip, which Gosling is really good at. He’s also great at getting smacked and making it look like it hurts, and some of his just wordless reactions to things going haywire are funny. His character is similar to the character he played in The Nice Guys, with a lot of getting punched and being snarky, and like in that film there’s a murder plot that his character is a few steps behind.

His opposite is Taylor-Johnson’s Tom Ryder who becomes even more unlikable as the film goes on, which is impressive as he starts off terrible. He says himself and Cole even have a sacred bond of stuntman and actor. His comeuppance and eventual exit from the film is quite satisfying. Duke is always a fun performer and while his character is basically Cole’s exposition buddy/sidekick he gets in a few choice moments like when in the finale he leads a battle against a gang of crooks. As the producer who brings Colt back, Waddingham is basically a stressed-out Hollywood producer cliché but still very amusing.

The Fall Guy is technically an adaptation of a 1980s TV series although the most they have in common is the main character’s name, the theme song plays over the end credits, and the star of the original series, Lee Majors pops up in a mid-credits scene. Director Leitch, a former stuntman himself, definitely shows love for the craft of stunt work, with lots of amazing stunt scenes like Cole in a fist fight along a speeding truck, or a funny extended bit when Cole is set on fire and smashed repeatedly into a wall while Judy berates him publicly about their relationship. When a drug dealer character asks Cole if stunt performers get Oscars, a visibly saddened Cole says “No.” As the end credits roll there is footage of all the real stunt work in the film and it is spectacular to see. This movie may be a bit too inside Hollywood at moments but seeing the stunt work and the multiple gangbusters action scenes, it is ultimately a love letter to the craft of stunt work.