The Fall Guy- SXSW 2024
March 13th, 2024
MOVIE: THE FALL GUY
STARRING: RYAN GOSLING, EMILY BLUNT, HANNAH WADDINGHAM, AARON TAYLOR-JOHNSON, WINSTON DUKE
DIRECTED BY: DAVID LEITCH
AMovieGuy.com’s RATING: 3 ½ STARS (Out of 4)
That Ryan Gosling has the IT factor. The reality is that he is a movie Star- with a capital S- and he’s still just getting started. The Nice Guys revealed that he could be a modern-day Buster Keaton. Barbie showed us that he could poke fun at himself like Jerry Lewis. Drive gave us flashes of Steve McQueen. And now The Fall Guy makes him as cool as Burt Reynolds. Ryan Gosling is the real deal and director David Leitch, along with Emily Blunt, and an entire cast of stars make The Fall Guy the first great blockbuster of the summer.
Our hero of the story is Colt Seavers (Gosling), a stuntman and one of the best. He often stands in for movie star Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson). Colt also has a connection with cinematographer Jody Moreno (Emily Blunt), where the two share winking glances on set, and then make out in their trailer after wrapping. Things are good, until a stunt goes bad, breaking Colt’s back, leaving him without a job, and losing the love of his life Jody. 18 months later, Colt is depressed and on the mend, when producer Gail (Hannah Waddingham) calls to say that Jody wants him to get back into the industry for her directorial debut. Upon his return, Colt hopes to win the girl back, but also discovers that Ryder has gone missing, making it up to him to help save Jody’s big motion picture.
Screenplay-wise, The Fall Guy is written by Drew Pearce (based on the 1980s television show which was fresh news to me) and has the kind of energy we used to see in 80s and 90s rom-coms with the right dash of action. Think Mel Gibson and Goldy Hawn in Bird on a Wire or Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner in Romancing the Stone. Only here it’s with greater charm, and magnetic chemistry between Gosling and Blunt that’s impossible not to love. As the narrative morphs from romance to action, to mystery-thriller, things stay consistent with those two in the driver’s seat. This is because Gosling is hilarious and the action is top-notch.
There is also great homage here to the behind-the-scenes people of movies. Names like Winston Duke, Stephanie Hsu, and Teresa Palmer all show up as on-set players, from gaffers, assistants, and stunt coordinators, which makes sense because director Leitch was a former stuntman himself. Although Bullet Train was a miss for the director, The Fall Guy is firing on all cylinders, with cool car crashes, explosions, and practical stunts that keep it humming even if the length goes a little over. None of that ultimately matters because Gosling keeps us smiling from start to finish.
They just don’t make movies like The Fall Guy anymore. It’s the version of entertainment that was once meant for parents, going with their spouse or teenagers and beaming at the capabilities of great Hollywood actors. It goes back as far as you can, from Clark Gable in It Happened One Night or as recently as what Cruise and Diaz had in Knight and Day. The Fall Guy is a welcome return to how much of a blast a trip to the movies can be. It’s as if the cinema gods have listened to our prayers and now we can watch Ryan Gosling fall from out of the sky. But don’t worry, he’ll be safe, he has a stuntman for all that.
THE FALL GUY IS PLAYING IN THEATERS FRIDAY MAY 3RD, 2024.
3 ½ STARS
Written by: Leo Brady
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