THE FALL GUY (2024) review
written by: Drew Pearce
produced by: Kelly McCormick, David Leitch, Ryan Gosling & Guymon Casady
directed by: David Leitch
rated: PG-13 (for action and violence, drug content and some strong language)
runtime: 126 min.
U.S. release date: May 3, 2024
I never would’ve thought we’d see a movie adaptation of the television show “The Fall Guy” before “The Six-Million Dollar Man.” If you’re of a certain age or at least pop culture savvy, you’ll recognize that both television shows starred Lee Majors and agree that one was more popular than the other. That’s why it’s surprising that we now have a “Fall Guy” movie, but at least it’s directed by a guy who knows a thing or two about being a stunt professional in Hollywood.
David Leitch started as a stuntman, doubling for the likes of Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, and Jean-Claude Van Damme, and eventually got into directing with his pal and former stuntman, Chad Stahelski. The pair co-directed 2014’s “John Wick” and have since overseen that successful franchise. Since then, Leitch has helmed a trio of propulsive action flicks with varying degrees of comedy, such as “Atomic Blonde”, “Deadpool 2”, and “Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw,” albeit with a kinetic kitchen sink approach, like his last movie, “Bullet Train” in 2022. Regardless of how well the tone of his movie is balanced, there’s no doubt that Leitch knows how to film action and present it to the audience.
For “The Fall Guy,” Leitch reunites with screenwriter Drew Pearce after their “Hobbs & Shaw” collaboration. Both of them set out to celebrate the world of stunt performers while carrying over the combination of comedy and action that was so prevalent in that movie. This time, Pearce and Leitch add romance to the mix, playing to the charming strengths of the two leads, culminating in a mostly satisfying action comedy to kick off the summer movie season.
As the movie opens, we meet stunt performer Colt Seavers (Ryan Gosling) on the set of the latest blockbuster starring Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), an action movie star Colt often doubles for. Also on set is camera operator Jody Moreno (Emily Blunt), with whom Colt is currently in a dating relationship. Colt is smitten, but they both have to prioritize their work. Unfortunately, tragedy occurs when Colt breaks his back on a stunt fall while filming.
When we catch up with Colt eighteen months later, he is still recovering from his injury while working as a valet at a restaurant in Mexico. It’s clear he suffers from a broken spirit as well since he’s cut himself off from Jody and anyone else in the business.
Then he gets a call from Gail Meyer (Hannah Waddingham, 100% game and fantastic), the current producer of Jody’s directorial debut, “Metalstorm,” a sci-fi epic being made in Australia. Gail tells him Jody has requested his stunt talents down under. That’s all it takes. Next thing you know, Colt has reunited with his best pal, Dan Tucker (Winston Duke), a stunt coordinator for the production, and back behind the wheel of a vehicle doing rollovers on a beach. When Jody learns Colt is on set, she is stunned and upset, which is not the response he expected. It turns out Gail persuaded him to come down to Australia because Tom Ryder, the star of “Metalstorm” (are there no other action stars?), has gone missing, supposedly due to some vague “activity with drugs.” Gail needs Colt to use his stunt skills to track down the Ryder and bring him back to set immediately so no one will know he’s been missing.
Something seems off, but Colt is a stuntman, not a detective. That means he doesn’t quite know what to do when he finds a dead body on ice in a bathtub in Ryder’s suite. Getting to the bottom of the situation takes Colt from one life-threatening situation to another. Between all the car crashes and chases, getting shot at, and the requisite falls, Colt is doing his best to get back in the good graces of Jody, who still likes him despite being mad at him for eighteen months of silence after his injury.
“The Fall Guy” wants you to think it’s about moviemaking, and while it does immerse viewers in the chaos of a film set, it doesn’t really go into the nuts and bolts of stunt work. That’s because it’s more interested in the arguable star power of Gosling and Blunt. I say “arguable”, but that doesn’t mean I don’t believe the two actors, who are easy on the eyes and effortlessly charming, aren’t a draw. They should be, but opening weekend for “The Fall Guy” in the States wasn’t exactly record-breaking. That could be for many reasons that have nothing to do with the two actors.
Overall, this is a fun, funny, and entertaining action comedy. That in and of itself is enough for me. Well, mostly. But could there be more, or rather, could it be better? Yes, it could.
The problems with “The Fall Guy” can be found in Drew Pearce’s screenplay. While he does an admirable job balancing romance and action, some details about Colt and Jody’s relationship history and status prevent us from rooting for them to work out. Like for example, at the start of the movie, why are they (well, Jody more than Colt) so secretive about their romance while on set? After all, they have different jobs, so where’s the problem? Does Jody have a problem with PDA? Pearce doesn’t offer much for us to go on, so we wonder why either is upset when that eighteen-month gap comes. Well, she is, and he’s forlorn.
While Pearce and Leitch do have fun giving Gosling and Blunt the chance to work out their character’s relationship dilemmas – specifically in a somewhat overlong scene on set where they mask talking out Jody’s grievances as a discussion over the character Colt is doubling for – it would still help for us to know just how long have these two been together or even interested in each other. There’s some confusion as to why Gail would think Colt would agree to turn into some tracker to retrieve her movie star. Is his infatuation with Jody so intense that he’d do anything to help her directorial debut go smoothly? It’s hard to say since we don’t know how tight they were. Despite how I’m going on about all this, none of my issues with their relationship issues and/or status pulled me out of the movie.
However, the way in which the vague antagonist subplot with Taylor-Johnson’s Ryder and Waddingham’s Gail comes across like a half-baked afterthought almost pulled me out. In fact, the more screen time Taylor-Johnson gets, the less interested we are in his character’s role in the plot. That’s not the actor’s fault. He has noticeable fun here, especially in the third act, where we hear his Matthew McConaughey impression, but we really want to see more Gosling and Blunt.
Action and stunts are the primary draws, though, and the ones that occur during the conclusion of “The Fall Guy” are like the encore of a 4th of July fireworks display. It’s reminiscent of the kind of fun blockbusters were at one time.
On that note, I mentioned that “The Fall Guy” is supposed to open the summer movie-going season, but it’s debatable whether or not a “movie-going season” is even still a thing. At one point, there was, and you’d only see these kinds of movies drop in the summer because the studios were targeted guaranteed butts in seats. But now, a big-budget action flick can drop any time of the year. So, maybe audiences aren’t allured by them as much as they used to, or they’re just pickier.
You would think that of the two Lee Majors-led shows, “The Six-Million Dollar Man” would be the more lucrative IP – and indeed, there’s been talk and attempt of doing so (with Mark Wahlberg attached) for years – but here we are with a decidedly different take on the overall conceit of “The Fall Guy” show. Created by prolific creator and showrunner Glen A. Larson (“Magnum P.I.,” “Battlestar Galactica,” and “Knight Rider”, to name a few), “The Fall Guy” revolved around a stuntman (Majors) who moonlighted as a bounty hunter, with each episode typically devoted to a new gig for his side hustle. The fun and funny part of the show is how Colt Seavers applied his talents and knowledge as a stuntman to precarious situations on his bounty-hunting jobs. This loose movie adaptation omits the bounty hunter element and leans heavily on stunts, romance, and comedy. That’s not quite the best decision, but it’s understandable, considering the emphasis on the star power of Gosling and Blunt.
As the movie ends, there’s a quick hint that a sequel might explore bounty-hunting gigs, but another movie is unlikely. That’s too bad since Leitch and company clearly have fun here. At times, Pearce’s script is a bit too movie-referential, making the banter borderline tiresome, but if we take “The Fall Guy” as a salute to the stunt community, then it does what it set out to do entertainingly.
RATING: ***
