The Fall Guy

The Fall Guy is the perfect way to kick off the Summer movie season with exactly the sort of action spectacle audiences find themselves craving this time of year. Filled with humor and stunts galore, it's also an endearing love letter to the people who make this exact sort of spectacle we love so much. 

Eighteen months after a stunt gone wrong left Colt Seavers (played by Ryan Gosling) with a broken back, he walked away from his career as stuntman for movie star Tom Ryder (played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and film business. This included his then girlfriend Jody Moreno (played by Emily Blunt), who was working on the same set as a camera operator. He is pulled back into it though when he receives a call from Tom's producer, Gail Meyer (played by Hannah Waddingham), stating she needs him to double for Tom again on his latest movie, the sci-fi epic Metalstorm. To further convince him she tells him it's Jody's directorial debut, Jody specifically requested Colt, and the success of the movie is on the line. It's only when he arrives on location in Sydney, Australia that he finds out the truth that Tom has vanished and Jody not only did not request him but is still mad at him for ghosting her after his accident. Gail tasks Colt with locating their missing star since Tom and Colt used to be close she figures he is their best shot at locating Tom, especially since they can't go to the police since Tom has gotten involved with some shady folks (as well as they don't want any negative publicity that may impact the movie). What seems like a simple enough task quickly spirals out of control as Colt has to dodge bad guys while keeping the movie going as well as trying to repair his relationship with Jody. With some help from his best friend, and stunt coordinator on the film, Dan Tucker (played by Winston Duke), he's going to have to do all he can to find Tom and save the movie.

The film was directed by David Leitch from a script by Drew Pearce. Prior to becoming a director, Leitch worked as a stuntman and stunt coordinator himself and that sort of insider knowledge permeates throughout the film. Some of the most fascinating elements of the film for me were them showing the dynamics between the members of the stunt team, what all went into creating the various stunts and how they pulled them off. Of course, any movie with this sort of plot is definitely going to bring it in terms of action sequences, which is pulls off fantastically, including a prolonged car chase through the streets of Sydney that was both thrilling and amusing in the way it escalated throughout, along with others I won't mention because I don't want to give away too much of the fun. This is balanced with plenty of well done humor and comedy, much of it coming from Colt as despite all his derring-do in the stunt world quickly finds himself in over his head when it comes to trying to find Tom. The cherry on top of the whole thing is the perfectly handled romance between Colt and Jody throughout the film. 

The film has a fantastic cast led by Ryan Gosling. He has really carved out a niche for himself in comedic roles such as this giving off plenty of charm and just enough goofiness to be endearing as his character repeatedly finds himself in over his head and manages to get by on his wits and experience as a stunt man. Emily Blunt is the perfect foil for his antics and has impeccable chemistry with Gosling that really sells their romance. But even more than that, I love how she plays her character and really captures how overwhelming it must be at times to be a first time director, especially on a huge science fiction epic where everyone is coming at her from all departments and having to make countless decisions. The combination of Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt is fantastic though and honestly made the movie for me, from their flirtatious and at times spiky banter, the two of them play off one another perfectly. Another pairing I loved was Gosling and Wilson Duke, who gets pulled into Colt's adventures and the two have a fantastic rapport with each other and really sell the long time friendship of their characters, with their tendency to trade off movie quotes with one another ringing true for a movie geek like me. Hannah Waddingham is a delight as the put upon Gail Meyer, who is trying desperately to keep the movie afloat as she moves from one crisis to another, forever with a can of Diet Coke in hand. Stephanie Hsu has a fun role as Tom Ryder's assistant Alma Milan, who turns out to be critical in Colt finding Tom and also turns out to be surprisingly good in a crisis. Hsu handles the role with plenty of humor and easily steals her few scenes in the film. 

Overall, The Fall Guy was a blast from beginning to end and the perfect movie to kick off the summer movie season. As I was watching the movie, I was once again how much I missed movies like this. In a era where it seems like every blockbuster is shot against a green-screen and CGI'd to death, it's a real thrill to see a genuine and thrilling action spectacle with practical effects and incredible stunt work. On that note, make sure to stay for the credits as they play over actual footage of how they pulled off all the incredible stunts for the movie, showing the actual stunt team pulling them off too. The perfect cherry on top of this very fun movie.