In which Ryan Gosling once again plays a funny, lovesick loser
There was an air of disdain surrounding The Fall Guy online leading up to its release that I didn’t quite understand. After their respective Oscar nominations only a few months ago, it feels like Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt are at the peak of their popularity and talent, and I, for one, had been looking forward to The Fall Guy.
Apparently, the movie had a poor box office opening. Apparently, this looks like a Neflix movie. Apparently, the leads are too old and the humour is too cringey and why not wait until the movie’s streaming online and who cares about the latest Hollywood ‘blockbuster’ anyway?
I swear, some people have forgotten how to have a good time with anything.
The Fall of the Fall Guy
After Hollywood stuntman Colt Seavers (Gosling) suffers an accident on-set and distances himself from his camera-operator girlfriend, Jody Moreno (Blunt), he’s surprised to find out that, years later, Jody has requested his services on the set of her directorial debut. Only, the star has gone missing and it’s up to Colt to track him down before Jody finds out and her film tanks…
I’ll admit that I’m a bit of a sucker for movies about making movies. I’m a fan of the medium—obviously—and I’m always interested in what goes on behind-the-scenes. I’d never seen a movie about a stunt performer before, though.
This is director David Leitch’s fifth feature film (sixth if you count his uncredited directorial work on John Wick). Leitch manages to capture the fun and chaotic energy of being on-set exceptionally well. The scenes where he’s filming filmmakers film scenes (yes) are just plain fun, and I think his passion for the work comes across very clearly.
There are a few moments of meta-commentary throughout the movie that work well enough—from pointed remarks about the lack of an Oscar category for stunt performers to filmmakers discussing the merits of split-screen while in split-screen—but Leitch’s true passion comes out in the stunt work.
It would, of course, be a tremendous shame if the movie about stunt performers didn’t feature cool stunts, and thankfully this isn’t the case. It goes beyond impressive world-record-breaking cannon rolls, though. Working stunts—as stunts—into the story is a lot of fun, but so is Colt’s emotional entanglement with specific stunts.
Colt is presented to us as somewhat of a loser following his initial (and literal) fall from grace. I would’ve liked to have spent more time with him before he’s called to be on-set again—just a few more scenes to really hammer home this self-pitying period of his life—but I understand the impetus in a two-hour movie to start getting to the meat of the story A.S.A.P.
He's Just Ke--I Mean, Cole
Ryan Gosling is, at least, extremely capable at playing ‘guy-who-looks-cool-but-is-actually-deeply-insecure’ for laughs. I found his performance to be pitch perfect for this film. Same with Emily Blunt, who despite having less to do than Gosling—and often playing the straight man to Gosling’s antics—still comes across as well-rounded, empathetic, and funny. The pair have good, believable chemistry, and they’re a joy to watch interact.
The Fall Guy’s noir-ish plot never quite had me on the edge of my seat—a side-effect of this being primarily a comedy—but that doesn’t mean I didn’t have a good time with the various minor twists and turns.
I will say that sometimes the balance between the romance and mystery plots felt a little off. The mystery takes a long time to kick in, and there are times where it felt like I was watching a rom-com, which isn’t inherently bad, but made some of the action scenes come across as a little jarring. Ultimately, it felt The Fall Guy was trying to do two A-stories at once. There’s a lesson about pacing here for those willing to look.
A couple of the action scenes didn’t quite work for me, either. I get it—it’s hard to make your action scene seem cool in a world where John Wick 4 exists—but when I can’t think of a reason why the bad guy wouldn’t, say, just stop their moving vehicle and deal with Colt straight up instead of climbing out of the window onto the roof, it breaks my immersion, as did the general lack of consequences for some of the property-destroying set pieces.
Thumbs Up
These are minor quibbles, though. The movie’s climax is a spectacular stunt bonanza and wraps up the plots in a satisfying manner. Sure, this isn’t a deep, interrogative movie where you walk away thinking about life, but it is a celebration of some of the best aspects of modern-day Hollywood movies.
Some might call it shallow, glossy entertainment. I wouldn’t agree, but if you’re not the kind of person who can switch off their brain to have a good time with a movie that isn’t supposed to be taken too seriously, then The Fall Guy isn’t for you. My condolences. For everyone else, have at it, and enjoy the ride.
***
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