Movie Review: The Fall Guy

The Fall Guy is a perfect movie to kick off the summer season. It is by no means a perfect movie and is in fact very flawed, particularly with its plot, but it features all the hallmarks of a good summer movie. It’s got action, comedy, romance, tons of set pieces and explosions, and features two beautiful actors at the center who exude charisma. What more could you want?

The Fall Guy follows Colt Seavers (Ryan Gosling), who at one point was the best movie stuntman in Hollywood, doubling for megastar Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson). Following an accident on set that broke his back, Colt has retired from being a stunt double and now lives a lonely life doing valet for a local restaurant. When he gets a call from movie producer Gail Meyer (Hannah Waddingham), Colt agrees to be Tom’s stuntman again in his latest movie, Metal Storm, which is being directed by Jody (Emily Blunt), whom Colt had a fling with in the past. Colt soon finds out that Gail brought him on to help find Tom, who has gone missing, and if he can’t be found the movie will be shut down. Now Colt must find the movie’s star while trying to win back the heart of a former lover and get his grove back as a stuntman after being out of the game for a long time.

A lot of the press around The Fall Guy has been around its love and dedication to the unsung stunt performers on movie sets and the work that they put in. While the sentiment is good and well-intentioned, the movie doesn’t convey that message very well. We get a few scenes of the stunt team setting up shots on Jody’s movie sets and the stunt performers in the actual film get a lot of work with the several set pieces in the film. Still, the film focuses too much on the overly complicated plot to find Tom and not the actual work the stuntmen put in on movie sets. I wish the film took out the Tom-is-missing plot entirely because it took away from interesting behind-the-scenes moments with Colt and the other stunt doubles and how hard their job is, as well as taking away from Colt’s redemption arc of becoming a great stunt double again, and his relationship with Jody, the aspects of the film I cared about the most. I understand the idea of the film is that stunt performers are amazing and can save the world, but this could have also been accomplished with a coherent plot.

What The Fall Guy actually showcases is just how much of a movie star Ryan Gosling is. Gosling keeps The Fall Guy interesting and fun even when the plot isn’t. He is all over the movie and showcases why he is one of the biggest and most talented stars in Hollywood. He gives a performance that encapsulates what makes him one of our best stars. He brings heart, humor, and layers to Colt that most actors wouldn’t. He shows his comedic and physical skills, and why he is one of the best romantic leads working today. You are rooting for Colt the entire film and Gosling’s screen presence and skill as an actor make it easy to do.

What helps Gosling’s performance shine even more is his pairing with Emily Blunt. Fresh off her Oscar nomination for Oppenheimer, Blunt is another actor with endless charisma who has shown comedic and dramatic skills in the past and she flexes both here. She and Gosling are a perfect cinematic match. They have infectious chemistry, banter back and forth beautifully, and you believe and root for their love story. It’s a shame the two don’t spend as much time on screen together due to the missing actor plot because there were more fireworks between them than any of the action scenes in the film.

While its plot gets unnecessarily complicated, The Fall Guy is a very fun and entertaining film. Led by megastar performances by Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt, this a perfect film to kick off the 2024 summer movie season.

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