Without counting “Barbie,” it appears the modern cinema blockbuster has mostly been such a serious business. Be it the complex history and universe of “Dune” or “Avatar: The Way of Water” or a sprawling interconnected universe of MCU, the last few years have felt like we were getting so many blockbusters that it has began to feel like a job too. Not that some of these features are not great, just there has been a lack of casual amusement, the kind that comes from what is, or used to be, termed a Hollywood movie. A film that is simple yet engaging, without requiring the viewer to be experienced with a whole franchise. “The Fall Guy” is out for your laughter and attention. It wishes to observe an old-fashioned Hollywood production with classic sought after lead actors Wilson and Gosling stuck in a new creative team based context. It wants to remind audiences when movies with death defying stunts and their execution was something to behold, not as easy as it would seem today in the time of CGI. It is a movie bursting with entertainment energy, starring a charismatic lead whose skill set allows for him to shine. This is a very well made movie that its director has clearly been idealizing throughout his career.
David Leitch came off as a typical stuntman who worked for famous action stars such as Brad Pitt, Jean Claude Van Damme, and Matt Damon. Nevertheless, his first foray into directing was little minnows like ‘John Wick’ while his success birthed films like ‘Atomic Blonde’ and ‘Bullet Train’. He makes a comeback to his old ones in The Fall Guy, which is inspired by the Lee Majors show of the same title about a Hollywood stuntman who also doubles as a bounty hunter. The show shares little narrative DNA with the show rather than a profession and the name of the protagonist but the Fall guy 2024 almost definitely retained the tone of 80s The Fall Guy which had a funny, romantic, mysterious and action kind of feel in it and had the slangs of the action stars who inspired it.
As the new Colt Savers, Ryan Gosling is cute, as he was in ‘The Nice Guys’. ‘The Fall Guy’ is a film about the making of the film. Still, it is more about the time of the movie star than about the film as it matters little what happens in the story when that one performer is on the screen. Due to the good side, Hollywood’s focus shifted to the story and concept, however, Leitch and ‘The Fall Guy’ team remembers the times when there was a combination of funny and hot superstar, such as peak of Burt Reynolds for instance, and that was fully enough. Goncharovian has that kind of relaxed attitude. He has that charm and was singing “I’m Just Ken”, and a man next to me at a bar commented on it as “I am almost irritated with how that guy can achieve anything”. The Fall Guy proves again the last five words quoted in that statement to be true.
When Colt is introduced in his role, meanwhile, Tom Ryder, a diva action star with the face of Aaron Taylor Johnson who gracefully balances elements of Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, and Matthew McConaughey, appears on the screen as Colt’s double. However, when a fall goes catastrophically wrong, he is put out of action for the next 18 months, breaking up with his girlfriend, Jody, played by Emily Blunt, and apparently quitting the industry. Things begin to change when Jody’s producer, Gail, played by Hannah Waddingham, reaches out to him to plead with him to return as Ryder’s double during the filming of Jody’s first film. It is hard to consider the first act of “The Fall Guy” as anything but a romantic comedy because in it, the first act basically consists of Jody scolding Colt for the fact that, after the accident, he left its protagonist, which, when shot before the camera of a large number of cast and crew members, must be a great experience, even if appearing to be a reminder of how much privacy one can have on such a set. Afterward, the story, which was interestingly penned by Drew Pearce, transitions into brutal action as Ryder mysteriously disappears. Winston Duke, Stephanie Hsu, and Teresa Palmer, their names complemented with a French-speaking action dog, made a great cast.
The numerous needle drops from the time the show is set, such as the frequent occurrence of the riff from the song ‘I Was Made for Lovin’ You’ by KISS, seem to refer to the time of the original series as well as when this type of action romantic comedy was common in Hollywood.
One theme of the ‘The Fall Guy’ is how stunt men or women are put in situations where they could be hurt and with hope comes out and raises their hands showcasing the kill switch. Those are people who have never been praised, but thanks to them, so many masterpieces are engraved in our memory. So naturally, ‘The Fall Guy’ has to incorporate some crazy stunts which include a world record breaking cannon roll, a fight to the death in a rotating dumpster and at least one gigantic vehicle leap. Leitch and his team know how to combine the character, the comic and the action, sadly Blunt takes a bit of break in the second half which was quite disappointing since the 2 had such great chemistry in the first half. Hsu also seems to be underutilized but Waddingham and Duke do get to have some fun especially the later who gets to remind us that yes, he too can do a little bit of everything.
“The Fall Guy” is a film at its heart that strikes a chord with those who are concerned about the threat posed by AI and deep fakes. It attempts to fight back against the endless cycle of heavy visual effects, generic, style over substance, and dull productions that have dominated the movie industry for the past couple of decades. This is also what the filmmakers and its critics alike see as its core purpose, providing audiences with what is quite frankly today a very rarely seen quality in blockbuster cinema: entertainment.
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