Banner image: Courtesy of Universal Studios
With Barbie and Oppenheimer‘s success last year, it seems that cinema culture is in its best shape in years. ‘Superhero fatigue’ and the recent shoddy sci-fi offerings have made way for the modern blockbuster to step into some new territory. Or, in The Fall Guy’s case, some delightfully old territory.
This May, director David Leitch (Bullet Train, Deadpool 2) delivers a stunt-filled action comedy dedicated to pure entertainment. It’s a refreshing return to the days when action films didn’t need to be quite so serious and comedies could be true cinematic events (instead of being quietly released into a secluded corner of a streaming service like rehabilitated animals).
Loosely based on the 80s action series of the same name, The Fall Guy introduces us to Colt Seavers (Ryan Gosling), a down-on-his-luck Hollywood stuntman who, after breaking his back in a nasty fall, is taking a permanent sabbatical from the biz. But when he’s asked to work on a film directed by his former flame, Jody (Emily Blunt), he quickly accepts, hoping to rekindle things.
After arriving on set in Australia, a slimy producer (Hannah Waddingham) tasks Colt with finding the film’s star (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), who’s gone missing, putting Jody’s big break in jeopardy. And soon, the stuntman finds himself drawn into a sinister conspiracy.
Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt in ‘The Fall Guy’. Courtesy of Universal Studios
Set to a pulpy rock ballad soundtrack, we follow Colt’s amateur investigation through the streets of Sydney. He’s an old-school, Indiana Jones-esque hero: better at taking punches than giving them and frequently weaselling his way out of life-threatening scrapes through his willingness to throw himself through plate glass windows.
While Gosling doesn’t offer much we haven’t seen in past performances (for example, in Barbie and The Nice Guys), he’s as immensely watchable as ever, now completely settled into his comedic niche as a goofy but lovable manchild.
Blunt, too, is very charismatic, offsetting Gosling’s chaotic silliness with a more naturalistic (but no less funny) flavour. Though the love story plays second fiddle to Colt’s lone-wolf shenanigans, the most enjoyable moments arise when the two leads share scenes.
That said, The Fall Guy isn’t a rom-com but a true action comedy. Its relentless barrage of action set pieces is only rivalled by its unceasing machine gun fire of jokes, some of which reach Monty Pythonesque levels of absurdity. One such gag that comes to mind is when Colt partners up with a dog called Jean Claude, who only understands French and bites people in the balls on command. Inevitably, not all of the humour lands. But when the script falters, the two leads do well to carry us to the next scene without much awkwardness.
As you might expect, the story isn’t exactly original. But with the bargain-basement narrative, Leitch and screenwriter, Drew Pearce, seem to have their cake and eat it too. In a movie like this, formulaic plotting comes across as an ode to simpler times, rather than uninspired storytelling. It’s nostalgia-inducing, like a recipe your mum used to make.
Plus, with all the high-octane antics, there’s little time for viewers to linger on story issues – and anything more complicated would probably just distract from the high-flying spectacle of it all. This film knows exactly what it is – not a film at all, but defiantly a movie – and is proud of it.
Ryan Gosling in ‘The Fall Guy’. Courtesy of Universal Studios
Besides being a thoroughly entertaining adventure, The Fall Guy is also director David Leitch’s love letter to the daredevils of Hollywood. As a former stunt performer who’s doubled for A-listers like Brad Pitt and Matt Damon, there’s a certain glee that comes across throughout. It feels like he’s a big kid living out his fantasies with a model train set.
The Fall Guy also leans into the very meta aspects of a former stuntman making a film about a stuntman making a film, with plenty of tongue-in-cheek moments. But the director/screenwriter team really show some finesse in finding an entertaining and satisfying balance between poking fun at big-budget action films and celebrating them.
Overall, The Fall Guy is a funny, crowd-pleasing spectacle that provides a refreshing counterpoint to the overly serious, overly saturated CGI fests that have loitered around at the box office in recent years.
Sure, there’s a bit of clunky editing, some jokes fall flat, and the supporting talent doesn’t have much to work with. But The Fall Guy serves up some lighthearted cinema you didn’t know you missed, while shining a spotlight on the unsung heroes of Hollywood: those who spend their days being set on fire, thrown out of buildings, and propelled through windscreens, all for our delight.
The Fall Guy is in cinemas on May 2nd.