Fall hard.
The Fall Guy is a 2024 action comedy film directed by David Leitch, written by Drew Pearce, produced by 87North Productions and Entertainment 360, and distributed by Universal Pictures. The film is based off of the 1981 TV series of the same name. It stars Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt.
"You fall down, you get right back up." - Jody Moreno
Plot
Colt Seavers is a stuntman. He loves his job and he works with the woman of his dreams. However, when a terrible accident destroys his career and his love life, Colt moves on. When Tom Ryder, Colt's previous actor, goes missing, Colt is re-hired as the stunt double on the set while also going undercover and searching for the famed movie star.
The Sweet
The Fall Guy just feels like a good, old-fashioned blockbuster.
We don't get enough movies like this nowadays; feel-good, fun, funny blockbusters that aren't based on a super popular IP (yes, The Fall Guy is technically based on a TV show from the 80s, but that's not really popular). This movie blends everything: action, comedy, drama, romance...it has something for everyone, and very few movies can say that. I really hope this movie gets a lot of love, because I think it's the type of film that, thirty years ago, would be immensely popular.
The thing that will sell tickets to this movie is the Ryan Gosling-Emily Blunt romance. And it should, because they are both fantastic. Gosling continues to ascend to true superstardom. He is so good at playing the idiot hero. He is able to play these ridiculous scenarios and characters so straight, which just makes him incredibly funny. And Emily Blunt leans into her comedic side a little bit more here. We've seen Blunt dip into comedy before, most recently with Jungle Cruise, but after Oppenheimer, this is a jarring shift that completely works. She has a very distinct personality and comedy style in this that is very effective here, and her chemistry with Gosling is just off the charts.
I also loved that this movie was an homage to stunt performers. Stunts are the most overlooked aspect of filmmaking. Stunt doubles never really get the credit they deserve. There isn't even an Oscar category for best stunts. And this movie calls that out. This film shows the stunt performer side of the filmmaking business in an incredibly funny and fun way. Director David Leitch was a stunt performer, and his goal with this movie was to make a love letter to stunt doubles. And that aspect is one of the best parts of the movie.
The third act of this movie is also really awesome. As I kind of said before, this film blends a bunch of genres really well, and the finale is the best example of that. It goes so insane and crazy, combining great action, hilarious moments, and genuinely poignant interactions all wrapped in this stuntman extravaganza. It is awesome. I can definitely see it going off the rails for some people, but I thought it was just a ton of fun.
I'll wrap up with this: is The Fall Guy the greatest action movie ever made? No. Was I ever bored? No. Did I have a smile on my face throughout basically the entire film? Yes. This movie is what I call a quality blockbuster. It's not cheap thrills like Fast & Furious or Jurassic World. It's not The Dark Knight prestige. It's in the middle, where movies like Beverly Hills Cop or Mission: Impossible fall. It's a very good movie that is also wildly entertaining.
The Sour
This movie's strength is definitely not in its story.
Usually, when a film just throws the story to the side and focuses on the entertainment value, it cheapens the product as a whole. That's why Fast & Furious and Jurassic World are cheap thrills. The Fall Guy, however, crafts enough of a story to make it so that you can focus on the fun without cheapening the whole movie. The characters are also really well executed, so that makes it easier to swallow the story. But the story is not great. There are some clear plot holes. If you think about it too hard, it doesn't make a ton of sense. I do think there's a version of this movie that's even better where the story is a little more fleshed out, but for now, it definitely holds the movie back.
I also thought the villains here were kind of ridiculous. This is really piggybacking off of my criticisms of the story as a whole, but the villains are just pretty forgettable. Their motivations and goals don't really make sense. Throughout most of the film, actually, it's unclear who the true villain even is. Again, this movie focuses on the action and the central relationship, which are the highlights. The other, less important parts are pretty mediocre or just not good.
This movie also has a bit of a mystery element to it, and I don't think it worked at all. It feels like the story doesn't really focus in on the mystery because it wants to focus more on the relationship between Gosling and Blunt, so it just feels like a side quest. I thought that the answers to the mystery were pretty predictable and not very impactful, which was disappointing. While I do think this film is a great genre-blender, I do think it could've found a better balance between Gosling and Blunt's storyline and the kidnapping/action storyline.
Final Thoughts and Score
The Fall Guy is an absolute blast. Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt are worth the price of admission alone, but the movie really works as a love letter to stunt performers as well as a classic Hollywood blockbuster.
I will go Savory here. Age range is 8+.
SWEET N' SOUR SCALE
Sweet (Great) Savory (Good) Sour (Bad) Moldy (Terrible)
"The Fall Guy"
Fun Factor: 8.5/10
Acting: 8/10
Story: 6/10
Characters: 7.5/10
Quality: 7.5/10
Directed by David Leitch
Rated PG-13 for moderate violence and action, language, disturbing themes and images, thematic elements
Released on May 3, 2024
2 hours and 6 minutes
Ryan Gosling as Colt Seavers
Emily Blunt as Jody Moreno
Winston Duke as Dan Tucker
Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Tom Ryder
Hannah Waddingham as Gail Meyer
Teresa Palmer as Iggy Starr
Stephanie Hsu as Alma Milan
Adam Dunn as Nigel
Zara Michales as Venti Kushner
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