For five years, between 1981 and 1986, The Fall Guy ran on ABC. Starring Lee Majors (The Six Million Dollar Man) as Colt Seavers, the television series followed him as he worked as a Hollywood stuntman by day and a bounty hunter by night. The show highlighted the dangerous work stuntmen and bounty hunters did while entertaining audiences all over the world. Forty-plus years later, Universal Pictures and director David Leitch (John Wick) are bringing back the beloved character in The Fall Guy starring Ryan Gosling (Barbie) and Emily Blunt (Oppenheimer). With incredible stunts (they better be!), action, romance, etc. the film has it all.
Colt Seavers (Gosling) is one of the top stuntmen working as a double for actor Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson; Bullet Train) and dating camerawoman Jody Moreno (Blunt) but when a stunt goes wrong and Seavers gets severely injured on set, he loses his job, Jody and himself. Fast forward a year and a half and Jody is directing her first feature film in Sydney, Australia. Producer Gail Meyer (Hannah Waddingham; Ted Lasso) contacts Colt telling him that Jody asked for him to come to set for some stone work but when he gets there Jody had no idea he was coming.
Gail secretly reveals to Colt that star Tom Ryder is missing and she needs him to find Tom, save Jody's film and be the big hero. Searching for Tom, Colt finds a dead body in the bathtub of Tom's hotel room. However, when Colt returns with the Police, the body is gone. Colt then looks for Tom by talking to Tom's assistant, Alma Milan (Stephanie Hsu; Joy Ride) but the two are then chased by goons looking for Tom's cell phone. When Colt unlocks the phone he finds a video of Tom killing his current stuntman. It is then that Colt learns the ugly truth as he suddenly finds himself framed for the stuntman's death.
Even though I am not a huge fan of Gosling, I thought he was well cast in this role and shows a range of emotions he rarely displays. He also has great chemistry with Blunt making their romance believable. Blunt is terrific as usual and she really becomes the jilted girlfriend/movie director. Winston Duke (Black Panther) as Colt's friend/stunt coordinator for Jody's movie is great and Waddingham is very good as well. The rest of the cast is fine, if unmemorable.
Leitch knows how to direct action sequences having begun his career as a stuntman and that intimate knowledge really comes in handy here. No detail is missed and he sets up shots so that the most interesting points of the stunts are caught on camera. He also balances stunts/action with drama and romance, making for a full and robust movie.
The stunts are incredible including a Guinness Book of World Records cannon roll in a car (8 and a half rolls). Leitch describes the film as a "love letter to stunts" and he isn't exaggerating. From the drop from the top of the building to the cannon rolls and the canyon jump in a car, all the stunts are amazing and offer a glimpse inside the life of a stunt person. Leitch sets up shots to get the stunts from all angles and offers the audience the best views while not compromising the plot of the movie.
From Blunt to Gosling and drama to action and romance, The Fall Guy has it all. The story is interesting, the cast is great, the action is top-notch, the romance is realistic, etc, and all of it gives everyone in the audience something to enjoy.
Grade: B
