It’s no secret that The Fall Guy, the new film from director – and former stuntman – David Leitch (Bullet Train) is campaigning hard for the Oscars to introduce an award for stunt performers.
Written by Drew Pearce, the action movie rom com is essentially one giant love letter to stunts and the hard working men and women (but in this film, mostly men) who fall out windows, get thrown against walls, drive over cliffs, fly through fire, and fall out of helicopters.
Colt Seavers (Ryan Gosling) is the best stuntman working in Hollywood. He regularly doubles for A-list movie star/giant douchebag Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and, at the start of the film, Colt has just begun a promising relationship with camera operator Jody Moreno (Emily Blunt). When he suffers a potentially career-ending injury on set, however, Colt goes into hiding for eighteen months. He works on physically recovering, gets a job as a valet, and diligently avoids Jody’s messages.
Colt’s withdrawal from public life comes to an end when movie producer Gail Meyer (Hannah Waddingham) calls: Tom has gone missing from the set of Metalstorm, the mega-budgeted sci-fi romance Jody is directing. Gail needs Colt’s help in tracking Tom down and, in the process, save Jody’s directorial debut. And just like that, Colt’s en route to Australia under the guise of joining the stunt team, led by his old pal, Dan Tucker (Winston Duke).
Naturally there’s more to Tom’s disappearance than meets the eye and before Colt knows it, he’s sucked into a dangerous plot, facing off against bad guys in all kinds of <ahem> action movie-like scenarios, all while attempting to rekindle his romance with Jody.
The details of Tom’s disappearance are both overly complicated and simultaneously unimportant. At its core, The Fall Guy is less about the criminal hijinks than using them as an excuse to highlight action movie stunts and watch the electric chemistry between Gosling and Blunt.
And, in that capacity, the film is a stunning success.
Sporting a perfectly effortless shaggy do and puppy dog earnestness, Gosling’s unflappable charm is on full display here. Even though Colt is a mess, he’s a lovable mess. It doesn’t hurt that the Canadian actor is as adept in the action sequences as he is with the comedy bits.
The Fall Guy blends the two seamlessly, such as the sequence when Colt is dosed at a club, then immediately has to pivot into fight/chase mode…all while ignoring the drug-induced unicorn hanging out on the periphery. Jacked with muscles and lovesick to the point of literal tears, Colt is always ready with a witty quip or a plan to use his surroundings in a fight.
Colt is arguably the only true character in a film filled with big personalities, but slight characterizations.
Jody works principally because of Blunt’s inherent likability, though the director doesn’t actually get much to do. She makes the most of what little she gets to do, though, such as when Jody abuses Colt by repeatedly forcing him to perform a stunt while relating the details of their break-up to the crew via megaphone.
In the hands of the other actors, the forced, familiar scenarios might be tedious, but even the most tired rom com tropes go down easily thanks to the leads. Gosling and Blunt have a swoon-worthy chemistry, so much so that Leitch barely needs a wordless montage of their romantic history to confirm the intensity of their feelings.
Did I mention their fantastic chemistry?
The rest of the supporting cast is solid. Waddingham is doing a rift on her Ted Lasso character, albeit with a distracting, atrocious brown wig. Duke’s Dan is a great wingman for Colt, while Teresa Palmer and Stephanie Hsu – as Tom’s girlfriend and assistant respectively – both shine in brief action set pieces.
Aside from the central romance, the film’s real raison d’etre is the action and, as always, Leitch knows exactly what pops onscreen. From Colt’s beach-set barrel roll when he arrives on the Metalstorm set, to the aforementioned drug fighting, to a spectacular garbage truck abduction/chase, to the epic stunt-filled finale, The Fall Guy exists in a delightfully self-aware space filled with diegetic (in-movie) action sequences, while simultaneously showcasing the non-diegetic (movie we’re watching) stunt work that the action genre is built on.
It’s a genius concept that allows the movie to metaphorically have its cake and eat it, too. The film’s many moments of self-referential commentary on stunts often end up being executed as actual stunts later in the film, which is highly amusing.
They aren’t subtle, but the jokey winks at the audience are entertaining because Pearce’s screenplay is so cheeky and Gosling’s performance is so sincere. It all just works. 4/5
Other Observations:
- There’s an action movie star cameo that killed with an audience, particularly given the complete physical disconnect between the actor’s body and Gosling’s. It’s even more amusing considering the film’s fascination with using digital effects to fix everything in post
- Waddingham’s wig is so aggressively bad that it must have been intentional. We’re talking a hair appliance that pulls so much focus that it practically deserves its own place in the credits
- Every film should feature an action scene cross-cut with a heartfelt karaoke performance
- Every film should also feature a bit with a dog, particularly if they only respond to commands in French. Now that’s comic gold.
- One last time for the folks in the back: Blunt and Gosling have great chemistry. Put them in another film together ASAP
The Fall Guy is playing in theaters May 3