The Fall Guy: Film Review
David Leitch inadvertently capitalised on the Barbenheimer trend when he cast Barbie star Ryan Gosling and Oppenheimer actress Emily Blunt in The Fall Guy. Their star power – and their recent presence in the cultural zeitgeist – makes them the perfect pair for this action comedy.
This movie, based on the ’80s TV series of the same name, follows stuntman Colt Seavers (Gosling), who was the double for Hollywood mega-star Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) until he broke his back during an on-set accident. The main story picks up 18 months later when Colt is called up to fly to Sydney to work on the directorial debut of his ex-girlfriend Jody Moreno (Blunt). But there is an ulterior motive – the film’s producer Gail Meyer (Hannah Waddingham) needs Colt to find the missing Tom and save the film.
The Fall Guy is an all-around thoroughly entertaining movie. It ticks all the boxes – action, check, comedy, check, romance, check. What more could you ask for?! The Fall Guy has something for everyone and is led by two seriously charming stars who could not be more perfectly matched.
Leitch, a former stuntman, has openly described this film as a love letter to stunt performers and he has certainly achieved that mission. There are tons of big, show-stopping action sequences, mostly with practical stunts. The film immerses us in a movie production and takes us behind the curtain to see how some of the stunts are pulled off, and there is a montage during the credits showing the making of certain moments. This film proves why these unsung action heroes deserve to be recognised by the Oscars.
The main issue is the humour. It does have some laugh-out-loud moments and silly meta references (it’s a movie-within-a-movie after all) but I wanted it to be funnier. Gosling is a comedy genius so he makes his lines work but there are some duds here and there. In particular, I was deeply disappointed in one “joke” about Johnny Depp and Amber Heard – domestic violence is not funny. What is this doing in a Hollywood movie?! I can’t believe that made it into the final cut.
The romance part is wonderful, purely because Gosling and Blunt are a delight together. He is a goofy and hopeless romantic desperate to win Jody back (a bit like Ken then!), while Blunt’s Jody is the ghosted partner hesitant to trust him again. These two have an excellent partnership and I would happily see them in a film together again.
It might not be perfect but The Fall Guy is an absolute blast. Try to see it on the big screen if you can.
In cinemas from Thursday 2nd May