Ryan Gosling's stuntman goes off script in the very meta 'The Fall Guy'
Run, don’t walk to the movie theater folks, because Ryan Gosling is having fun again. Sure, he can convincingly go dark and complicated, but this is also an actor who’s spoken fondly of his days on a cheesy kids show. But with “The Fall Guy,” Gosling kicks it up a notch with a love letter not just to stuntmen and other unsung heroes you find on a film set, but to movie lovers everywhere.
He’s also brought in the right man to make him look good and match him for enthusiasm with David Leitch, a director who’s become a box office favorite through his work in the “Deadpool” franchise and “Atomic Blonde,” to name but a few. What isn’t as well known is Leitch’s very long and established history as a stunt coordinator long before he became known for helping blockbusters.
What more could you want for such a gleefully creative partnership in this very meta tale of stuntman Colt Seavers (Gosling), a professional who once lived up to the bonafide cool of his name, only to tailspin into a cycle of self-pitying lows after a devastating injury on set. That said, this is a Los Angeles brand of rock bottom, the kind where you can still rock killer abs while biding your time parking cars. When hotshot Hollywood producer Gail (Hannah Waddingham) gives him a call and offers him the chance to get it all back, including Jody (Emily Blunt), the girl of his dreams, the movie wisely doesn’t waste much time with the convincing.
It also quickly establishes the central mystery: that the movie’s self-absorbed lead Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson smarming it up) has gone missing, and if Colt doesn’t find him, the movie, which also happens to be Jody’s directorial debut, will be shut down, landing her in director jail. So begins the eye-popping odyssey that’s so Hollywood the inevitable unplanned drug trips come with unicorns, an actress attacks in a cushy home with a prop sword, and when there’s a fight in a hip LA club, no one even thinks to call the police.
Universal Studios
The mystery isn’t complicated, and the cliches are all there, but resistance is so futile it’s almost beside the point. Who needs plot twists when you have Gosling and Blunt as love interests with such wholesome chemistry you could easily scrap the rest and coast on their romcom charm? Thank goodness “The Fall Guy” doesn’t take that route though, because the action, whether one-on-one combat or mind-bogglingly creative car sequences, rocks.
Leitch and Gosling could settle for making the most of Colt’s stunt credentials, which under less deranged circumstances would only go so far in explaining how this guy would make it through half the movie, but it squeezes in others who make the most of their limited screen time, with Winston Duke and Stephanie Hsu among those stepping up to assist and occasionally ask for the ultimate industry reimbursement - a producer credit.
The final sequence is also the most unlikely, where a movie set could lead to a life and career saving confession, but this is Gosling’s funniest role since “The Nice Guys,” with cameos, mid-credit scenes to make the most of, and credentials that industry insiders and newcomers alike will appreciate. Roll with it, folks, and see “The Fall Guy” in its natural habitat, where you can laugh along with the other moviegoers, and hopefully, stay off your phones.
Grade: A-
