The Fall Guy

Hollywood can be a pretty brutal industry, and more often than not, talented people who deserve a chance to showcase their abilities never get the opportunity to due to the simple fact that they just don’t catch on in the public eye. Actors suffer this the worst, as even if they are perfectly capable, they won’t be given many chances if the audience doesn’t show up to support their movies, with one such actor being Ryan Gosling. Although proven to be a charming guy with solid performances under his belt, his on-screen persona mixed with his poor casting choices has resulted in him not being a best-selling actor, with the only shift in this normality being his attachment to the massive hit film, Barbie, as the character of Ken. With this change of pace, a lot was put on his next film, The Fall Guy, to see if he had finally evolved in his career, and given the results, it’s still not entirely clear. Colt Seavers (played by Ryan Gosling) is a stunt performer for big-time Hollywood action star, Tom Ryder (played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson), but he abandons that gig after an accident severely injures him, leaving behind the stunt life as well as his camera operator girlfriend, Jodie (played by Emily Blunt). Years pass, and Colt’s life is going nowhere until he gets a call from Tom’s film producer, Gail (played by Hannah Waddington) who asks him to come work on a new film that is being directed by Jodie. Although the two start off on bad terms, both Colt and Jodie eventually find common ground and proceed to create the film, but things turn more extreme when Gail reveals the real reason Colt was brought here, which was to find Tom, who has suddenly gone missing. With his experience as a stunt performer and his likeness to the actor being his only lead, Colt tries to track down this Hollywood talent while not destroying his rekindle romance with Jodie or the movie they are both working on. The Fall Guy isn’t going to turn heads for its plot, characters or writing, but as a simple, light entertaining romp to start the summer off on, it manages that through fun set pieces, an approachable atmosphere and some really charming actors.

Based very loosely on the 1980s series of the same name starring Lee Majors and Heather Thomas (who do cameo in the film during a mid-credit scene), the movie was originally going to be a DreamWorks and Touchstone film all the way back in 2005 starring Dwayne Johnson, but nothing ever came of that project. It was eventually picked up by Universal and put back into development with the help of the Australian Government (who helped finance the film since it was being filmed in Sydney) and 87North Production, a production company created by the film’s director, David Leitch, and his producer wife, Kelly McCormick, which has been responsible for films like Atomic Blonde, Nobody, Bullet Train, and the John Wick films. Given the vibe each of those films gives off plus the advertising surrounding this movie, you’ll get a pretty good idea of what kind of film you’re going to experience when watching this; one that doesn’t take a lot of time to flesh out a lot of depth in its plot lines, characters or even dialogue, but rather focus on creating a memorable experience through bombastic characters, wacky scenarios, an over-the-top tone and much more time dedicated to the fight scenes than anything else.  Given the premise behind this film, this team seems like the right people to handle it, and with the added benefit of highlighting the stunt community behind several big Hollywood pictures (a group that continues to be criminally overlooked), the film carries a solid heart behind it, which is only further pushed by the very likeable characters, harmless environment, and lively direction. David Leitch as a director isn’t always consistent and can sometimes be a little shallow in terms of his delivery, but he does at least know how to provide an entertaining experience, and this film, even in spite of its obvious shortcomings, is entertaining and gets through its seemingly very long running time of two hours in a way that, while a little unfocused and obvious, isn’t at all painful or mean spirited. With all that said, it’s hard to call this film necessarily effective, as a lot of the core ingredients aren’t handled in the best way. The actual story is not very well constructed, with a screenplay by Drew Pearce that is overall pretty terrible with unfunny dialogue, a mystery that is both incredibly obvious and uninteresting to sit through, and a romance that is held together by two great actors but does contain some expected rom-com cliches that can make them feel a little juvenile (this team made Hobbs & Shaw, so immaturity should just be part of the package). While the story doesn’t do a good job getting the audience invested and the film’s sunny and very nonthreatening demeanor means it lacks a sense of edginess that might’ve helped this premise out, the kinetic flow of the film mixed with the passionate performances and the energetic action scenes still makes it a fun sit.

Ryan Gosling as an actor was always in an awkward position because one of the reasons that might’ve kept his career in a purgatory state is that he often picked roles that presented him as the every-day leading man, and that just doesn’t feel like his style. From his past work on movies like Crazy, Stupid Love and more recently with Barbie, it shows that Gosling is a very charming funny man who works much better when he’s allowed to do things a little more goofy and not so reserved, which is why this film looked like a good choice for him, and he really does shine in this role. The idea of a stunt man getting caught up in a crime investigation and subsequently being chased by those who suspect him of being the person he stunt performs for, is already a great idea, his skills as a stuntman coming into play during the action whether in a legitimate or even comedic light is fun, and Gosling plays off all of this with a respectable level of wildness without ever going fully overboard. Emily Blunt as his love interest is also very charming to watch, the two share some truly great chemistry together, and even though their romance is laced with some forceful cliches as well as overly rambling dialogue that can be a little much, they are pretty enjoyable and sweet together when they stick to the script and play off each other naturally. The rest of the cast are also very likeable and add to the charm of the film even when they don’t get as much screen time. Not all of them click, like Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who despite being passable, isn’t really that interesting to watch, but Winston Duke is a simple but effective support for the lead, Hannah Waddington is pretty funny as Jodie’s incredibly superficial producer, and Stephanie Hsu does great in a short but memorable scene, taking what is otherwise a nothing role that anyone could’ve played, and bringing something distinct to it (which really shows the sign of a quality performer).

In a film that highlights stunt work, it feels like a given that the movie would need to do all of its stunts physically rather than digitally as it would feel disingenuous if it didn’t. Thankfully the film is aware of this and made sure to film a lot of its action scenes with real stunts, and most of the scenes on display showcase some pretty cool set pieces that look like they took a lot of effort and timing (with one of the stunt drivers, Logan Holladay, even managing to break a world record for the most cannon rolls performed in a car). However, while it is appreciated that a lot of the stunts are physical and there are several times when you can tell that they are genuine from the way they interact with the environment, some strangely look like they have a digital filter around them (particularly during a car chase scene in the middle of the film) to the point that it almost destroys the practicality of said stunt. While it’s hard to pin down the exact reasoning for this, it might have something to do with the camerawork by Jonathan Sela, as it doesn’t always do a great job showing off the action in a way that feels like it wants to make it look authentic. The closeness of the shot, the mostly medium-view angle, even the incredibly clean and steady nature of it can make it feel a little preordained in some respects, and whether it had an addition filter added in to remove background clutter or something along those lines, it does prove noticeable in the moment which somewhat ruins the whole intent of the physical stunt in the first place. It’s not a huge issue as when they show it at the end, you can feel the effort, but it is a shame that something that is proven to be real can look fake just from the way it’s framed and shot. The soundtrack is packed with a bunch of songs that are either recognizable 80s tunes, or ones more modern ones that would feel in line with that style and era, and considering the original series was based in the 80s and everything about this project screams as being very 80s-tastic, it makes sense it would want to replicate that period. The only thing wrong with this is that while it might have a sound of the 80s, it doesn’t in any way feel like it takes place in that period of time due to the dialogue sounding very modern, the look being very polished and bright, and the atmosphere being very squeaky clean and distinctly PG-13 in tone. The film might’ve benefited from taking more of a retro approach to things and adopting some older attributes to feel more in line with that older grungier style, but it can’t be helped after the fact.

The Fall Guy might not be the smash hit that Gosling probably needed to definitively say that he’s improved his career as the movie failed to make its money back, but considering the positive critic and audience scores all round, he can be proud that he was part of a film that everybody seems to at least unanimously like. It has a cast of likeable faces, action that is certainly very theatrical but still impressive, and a tone that probably would’ve been better if it got a little darker and meaner but feels fine for the crowd it’s trying to appeal to. The story, writing and mystery is overall not handled very well, and for someone who is looking for something with a bit more purpose and weight behind it (or even something more like the original show), it’s not going to be found in this package, but it does feel like it’s a stunt worth partaking in.