The art of filmmaking is rarely a singular effort. There’s a lot of people who do jobs that aren’t placed in the limelight during promotional efforts but whose jobs might be a defining moment for a film.
Some of those people are stuntmen. Prolific actors like Tom Cruise and Jackie Chan made a name for themselves by doing their own stunts, yet the vast majority of films have designated stuntmen who have gotten severely injured or even died just to get the perfect shot.
The Fall Guy is the newest film by David Leitch, the man behind John Wick (2014, as co-director), Deadpool 2 (2018), and Bullet Train (2022). It is loosely based off of the TV series of the same name, which aired in the early 80s, starring Lee Majors as Colt Seavers, a stuntman who takes jobs rescuing missing people and taking down criminals. This new interpretation stars Ryan Gosling (Blade Runner 2049, La La Land, Barbie) as Colt Seavers; Emily Blunt (A Quiet Place, Sicario, Oppenheimer) as Jody Moreno, Colt’s love interest; and Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Bullet Train, Godzilla, Avengers: Age of Ultron) as Tom Ryder, a famous movie star who claims to do his own stunts for publicity.
Many publications have said that the film is light on plot, but that is likely the case where the intricacies of a story are lost in the action: After suffering a broken back on a planned fall, Colt Seavers quits being a stuntman to the chagrin of several of his colleagues. Eighteen months later, Seavers’ former girlfriend, Jody Moreno, is working on her directorial debut, a science fiction action film called Metalstorm starring Tom Ryder (who Seavers worked with as his longtime stuntman). Upon arriving on set, Seavers finds out that Ryder is missing, and he sets out to save the film and heal his relationship with Jody.
The film deals with three central genres or themes: being an action film, a romantic comedy, and a tribute to stunt people throughout cinema history. For the most part, it succeeds on all fronts, yet people who are looking for a romantic comedy might be disappointed in the middle hour and a half.
As a tribute to stunt work, the film is fantastic. There is little CGI at hand here, with much use of wires, rigs, and guys with guts jumping across large gaps. An extended sequence plays out where Seavers battles a group of thugs in a moving garbage truck. Real blows are dealt and the surrounding city is annihilated along the way. It’s a very impressive show of feats, and demonstrates everything that the film is going for. As it stands, a new world record has been set by the film for the largest number of car rolls in a single production.
Leitch’s previous film, Bullet Train, had a relatively simple premise but had quite a few interesting ways of telling that story, with a lot of flashbacks to previous events or the retelling of events from another perspective. The Fall Guy takes similar liberties in areas, and has a mystery going throughout the first two-thirds of the film in which Seavers’ investigation is marred by LSD and deepfake technology.
With two big names in lead roles, the film also manages to create two characters that play off each other wonderfully, and share some of the film’s funniest moments. Unfortunately, it feels as if Gosling and Blunt could’ve had more screen time together, but that would’ve required less action sequences and perhaps ruin the fabric of the film. The time that they have together is effective for what it’s trying to do. The supporting characters are fun as well; including the overbearing producer, and Seavers’ stunt coordinator, who plays an important role in one of the film’s biggest action scenes.
Making meta in-jokes about movies in movies is a tough thing to do, and can sometimes feel awkward or forced. Yet here, there are several blatant references or title drops from other films that are quite funny, especially for those who watch a lot of films. There’s something about the placement of the jokes that works quite well.
By extent, action-comedies are often a difficult genre to do well, because poorly-timed comedy can ruin a scene (for example, a lot of Marvel films). Fall Guy does an admirable job of balancing exciting action sequences with jokes (which are more about Ryan Gosling’s comedic timing, rather than the jokes themselves) and there are only a few small moments when it doesn’t quite work.
The music is a very interesting part of the film. There’s modern music (including a well-timed joke about a Taylor Swift song), yet a lot of the soundtrack consists of 70s and 80s hits. KISS’ “I Was Made For Loving You” almost serves as a main theme for Colt Seavers, and plays in a few pivotal moments. The film’s end credits features a cover of “Unknown Stuntman”, the main theme for the TV show, performed by Blake Shelton.
Potential faults with the film comes with the fact that it is juggling multiple genres and trying to do a lot. There is a mystery introduced in the first half of the film that doesn’t really feel like a mystery because of the scenes it is sandwiched between. An audience member could possibly forget about it, and when the answer is eventually revealed, it doesn’t feel fully satisfying. At times it feels like the mystery and the search could have been longer, yet for some, it could have been shortened by a few minutes here and there.
The comedy in the film could also be a point of contention, because comedy is such a subjective thing. It might work for some and not work for others. There are a couple of moments where the comedy does seem too dwarf the action sequences, but very minimally.
Fans of the TV show might find the romantic comedy direction to be a bit out of place with the tone of the series, but this film is an origin story in disguise. Depending on the film’s success, it would be very easy to see Gosling return in a story more akin to the show.
The Fall Guy is not a film that will be nominated for Academy Awards. It’s not reinventing the wheel or creating a new action subgenre, but it’s not trying to. This is what movies are all about: entertainment. It more than proves that Ryan Gosling is more than capable of performing in any genre, and works as an exhilarating action film, with a surprising amount of heart. See it in theaters.
2024 PG-13 126 minutes In Theaters Now
