PG-13 | 2h 6m | Comedy, Action, Romcom | May 3, 2024
“The Fall Guy” directed by David Leitch is 2024’s first summer blockbuster. A screwball action romcom starring Emily Blunt and Ryan Gosling, it belongs to the genre of Hollywood films that cheerfully poke fun at Hollywood, like “Tropic Thunder” and “Barton Fink,” and it’s a total blast.
Set in the movie stunt world, “The Fall Guy” sends up action films. Who better to tell such a tale than Mr. Leitch, who used to be Brad Pitt’s stunt double?
Story
The movie is based on the 1980s American TV series “The Fall Guy,” which starred Lee Majors as stuntman Colt Seavers. In the 2024 film, Ryan Gosling plays Colt, stunt-doubling for famous action star Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson). This Tom is very likely based on that other unparalleled, action-Tom of all time. You know which Tom.
Things are good in Seavers’s world at the film’s outset. He’s wrapping on a film, and has a delicious, soul-mate-y romance with a camerawoman named Jody Moreno (Emily Blunt) who’s got directorial ambitions. One last stunt, and the two lovebirds will be off on a beach holiday.
But our fall guy suffers a literal backbreaking fall. Then, illustrating the ruthless brutality of Hollywood careers, we see that 18 months later, Colt’s working as a parking lot valet and his pride won’t let him face anyone, especially Jody.
To the rescue comes Gail (Hannah Waddingham), Tom Ryder’s bombastic, won’t-take-no-for-an-answer producer. She persuades Colt to return to work on “Metalstorm,” a blockbuster that’s sort of a mash-up of “Dune” and “Mad Max,” or, as it’s described, a “space-cowboy and alien romance.” Which happens to be directed by Jody, who’s down in Sydney, Australia, dealing with spoiled egomaniac Ryder’s latest Hollywood star shenanigans. Gail adds that Jody personally requested Colt. Lies! Lies and manipulation! Jody wants no part of Colt, seeing as how he ghosted her.
Action and Performances
Car and speedboat chases abound, naturally, along with explosions and fireballs. Much like Showtime’s “Billions,” the characters reference other films constantly, for example, “If this were ‘The Fugitive’ and you were Harrison Ford, wouldn’t the bad guys be turning up right about now?”
The script is clever and hilarious, even when being deliberately cheesy, like Colt’s line: “Being thrown from a car hurts. Being set on fire hurts. But nothing hurts as much as being without you.”
While Blunt and Gosling can do these roles in their sleep, they have an absolutely delightful chemistry. Maybe it’s that Gosling just loves women named Emily. Emma Stone, with whom Gosling has such ridiculous chemistry that they won an Oscar together (2016’s “La La Land”), has just decided she’ll now be going by Emily instead of Emma.
Aaron Taylor-Johnson plays an appropriately punchable, neck-wringable prima donna who’s unable to function without plastering the walls of his apartment with Post-it notes (“is it MoMOA, or MOmoa??”) and even then, not particularly well.
Winston Duke shines as the “Metalstorm” movie-quoting stunt coordinator, as does Stephanie Hsu as Ryder’s beleaguered assistant. Watch for cameos (Original fall guy Mr. Lee Majors) and stay for the end credits.
“The Fall Guy” is obviously not the first film to actively suggest that the Academy Awards finally create an award to honor stunt performance, but considering the director’s stunt history, it’s a bit more vehemently stressed here. And since America will feel those bone-crunching stunt takes to the point where we have to wonder how stuntmen and stuntwomen survive even one action film, let alone a whole career’s worth—maybe Hollywood’s unsung fall guys and gals can finally get to be Oscar-golden too.
