Sunday, 5 May 2024

The Fall Guy

Official Australian release date: 26/4/24. Viewed: 5/5/24.
Director: David Leitch
Actors: Ryan Gosling, Emily Blunt, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Hannah Waddingham
Genre: Action / Comedy
Rating: M

‘The Fall Guy’ is loosely based on a 1980s TV show that starred Lee Majors, that I haven’t seen, so I can’t compare. This film works as a tribute to stunt people that make action films exciting, while also being a fun action movie like we used to get in the late 80s/early 90s, with plenty of it’s own excellent stunts. It’s directed by Leitch, who has already proven himself with ‘Deadpool 2’, ‘John Wick’ and ‘Bullet Train’. In the film, the director is Jody (Blunt) who has a relationship with the stunt guy Colt (Gosling). Colt is the stunt man for up-and-coming actor Tom Ryder (Taylor-Johnson), perhaps a parallel of Gosling 15 years ago. Something goes wrong, and Colt ends up trying to find where Tom’s gone, while attempting to fix his relationship with Jody.

Good support cast – stunt coordinator Dan (Duke), Tom’s agent Gail (Waddingham) – and nice to see Sydney looking great as a location, even if you know the route they take on the garbage truck chase isn’t possible. I wonder if that’s what LA/Atlanta locals always feel watching films set there? Also fun to see some part of the fictional film they’re making – ‘Metal Storm’ which has nods to ‘Mad Max’ and Dune’ – at the end. The storyline is paced quite well, there’s plenty of laughs and a nice ending.

Both Blunt and Gosling are great leads and have lots of nice moments and plenty of screentime. However, the film never gets too serious or dramatic and makes sure it pays adequate homage to the stunt teams of Hollywood by having an excellent car chase, good fight scenes, exciting boar chase, superb beach-based car rollover and a great final 15min which have about 20 stunts crammed in, including a crazy car jump. The bar’s been raised for the next ‘Mission: Impossible’!

Overall: Fun, classic, enjoyable action-comedy

Gav's Rating: 4 stars

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