THE FALL GUY, US, 2024. Starring Ryan Gosling, Emily Blunt, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Hannah Waddingham, Teresa Palmer, Stephanie Hsu, Winston Duke. Directed by David Leitch. 126 minutes. Rated M (Action violence and coarse language)
A big-budget, Northern Hemisphere summer blockbuster, action and romance – and plenty of stunts – for a happy popcorn audience. And based on an ’80s television series with Lee Majors.
The fall guy is usually the one who has to take the blame but the emphasis here is on stunt men who have to do all kinds of literal falls for the action sequences of the movie. Actually, later it is revealed that Colt Seavers, long-time reliable stuntman, is actually the fall guy for a murder.
The movie stars the scenic beauty of Sydney. We see action on the Harbour Bridge, elaborate futuristic science-fiction stunts in front of the Opera House, action chases on the harbour. The human star is Ryan Gosling. For 20 years he has been a serious actor, able to do comedy, and hitting the headlines as Ken, ‘I’m just Ken’, in last year’s popular Barbie. The Fall Guy won’t dent his popularity at all. All kinds of stunts, some deadpan lines, some pining for Jody, the camera director who is now making her first feature film, Metalstorm, an action show which looks like a minor variation on Dune. And she is played with charm and energy by Blunt.
One of the main attractions for The Fall Guy is the range and extent of so many of the stunts. Director Leitch was a stuntman and body doubled in the past, including in Sydney for The Matrix films. One can tell that he is enthusiastic about all stunts. He was one of the powers behind the original John Wick movie, so is not afraid of violent confrontations. And, while there are a lot of those, there is also a lot of tongue-in-cheek humorous touches.
Television audiences will have seen Hannah Waddingham in the popular series, Ted Lasso. Here she is the big, upfront, producer, spurring people on, sometimes sweet-talking them, other times being a ruthless manipulator. As the action goes on, we discover how ruthless. The hero of Metalstorm, is show pony, Tom Ryder (Taylor-Johnson), full of himself, prone to flattery and unscrupulous.
The romance pervades the whole film, with the stuntman and director pining for each other, split, gradually coming together (symbolised by the split screen sequence where with all their talk about the plot of the film and happy ending, they gradually walk towards each other).
There will be many more American summer movies like The Fall Guy – but this is the one that we have this year. And a bonus for Sydney with the movie being a drawcard for American tourists to Sydney to see the sights where Ryan Gosling went into action.
Universal
Released 24 April
Image: Emily Blunt is Judy Moreno and Ryan Gosling is Colt Seavers in The Fall Guy, directed by David Leitch
© Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved.