The Fall Guy
Stunt man Colt Seavers (Ryan Gosling) has been out of the business for over a year, recuperating from battle scars both physical and mental when he’s recruited back into the biz by producer Gail Meyer (Hannah Waddingham) when the movie star he doubled for, Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), disappears from the set of “Metalstorm.” As if solving that mystery while being thrown back into intensive action wasn’t enough, the movie just happens to be helmed by his ex, Judy Moreno (Emily Blunt), and Colt adds winning her back to his agenda in “The Fall Guy.”
Laura's Review: B
Director David Leitch ("Atomic Blonde," "Bullet Train"), the stuntman who spawned the “John Wick” series, has made a paean to stunt persons plopped on top of a romantic comedy starring two of the most charming actors in the business. It helps that Waddingham and Taylor-Johnson are also deliciously hissable villains, the stars and stunts getting us over the bumps in "Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation" writer Drew Pearce’s script (loosely adapted from Glen A. Larson's 1980’s television series).
Romantic comedies need an obstacle and this one’s stretches credulity, Colt’s disappearing act after an on set accident hard to believe after witnessing the intense connection between Colt and then camera operator Judy (she couldn’t find a man with a broken back in a hospital?). The film’s title is a double entendre, Colt not only having been injured after being dropped from a great height in a compromised rig, but now being set up for a crime he didn’t commit and yet the lie that gets him to board a plane to an Australian film set, though noted, is never really questioned.
Colt, therefore, is as surprised by Judy’s negative reaction as she is to his appearance on her set. After stunt coordinator Dan Tucker (Winston Duke, “Nine Days”) tells her Colt’s their only option, she proceeds to make his life hell, demanding multiple takes of a scene where he is set on fire and body slammed into a giant boulder. Gosling’s ability to assume bashful humility begins to break down Judy’s resistance campaign, but when he gets caught up in ‘mission missing movie star,’ his behavior becomes erratic in the extreme, jeopardizing the rebudding romance, and Gail has sworn him to secrecy.
While we’re treated to what must be every stunt under the sun (cannon rolls, drops, a chase sequence over the Sydney Harbour Bridge and later in motorboats in Sydney Harbour featuring car and boat jumps and plenty of hand-to-hand combat), the script keeps gags running, from Ryder’s addiction to Post-It notes to Colt and Judy’s plans to head to a beach where they can ‘wear swimming costumes, drink spicy margaritas and make bad decisions’ to hallucinogenic unicorns to Jean-Claude Van Damme, a stunt dog who only responds to French and specializes in crotch grabs. There are tips of the hat to Gosling’s “Drive” character in his wardrobe of satin film crew jackets and his donut delivery of cars as a parking lot attendant. All of these little flourishes help a plot that begins to sag before bouncing back during its second climax, a spectacular set piece involving both a car jump and Colt leaping onto a helicopter to wrestle back the incriminating film footage Judy just captured.
The Academy recently announced the addition of an Oscar stunt category and the film takes a jab at the fact there presently there isn’t one. Chris O’Hara gets film’s first ‘stunt designer’ credit, an upgrade from stunt coordinator making the position more akin to choreography, a move a long time in coming. And while we expect Leitch to be an ace director of action, one of the film’s best scenes involves Judy consulting Colt on whether to use a split screen as Leitch splits the screen, the two actors interacting in humorous ways with no knowledge of the other’s movements. There is one pretty shoddy looking bit of CGI as Colt is dragged on a sparking metal sheet behind a truck (right past the karaoke bar window where Judy sings her heart out assuming she’s been stood up).
“The Fall Guy” is pure popcorn, empty calories with enough flavor boosters to satisfy in the moment.
Universal Pictures releases "The Fall Guy" in theaters on 5/3/24.
