Movie Review - The Fall Guy

The Fall Guy ***1/2 (out of 5) (PG-13) I’ve praised David Leitch before for joining the ranks of former stunt men who became successful directors. This time he pays homage to those with whom he toiled in anonymity, in plot and by borrowing the title from Lee Majors’ stunt man-turned-bounty hunter in his popular 1980s TV series. This one turned out pretty well, though not his best.

Ryan Gosling stars as the long-time stunt double for an obnoxious action icon Tom Ryan (Aaron Taylor-Johnson). He’s also in love with one of the camera operators (Emily Blunt). When he breaks his back in a long fall gone wrong, that starts 18 months of boozing and self-pity, isolating himself from everyone. He gets a call from Gail (Hannah Waddingham) who is producing an action flick that is Blunt’s debut in the director’s chair, saying that Blunt insists on having him for some of the stunts. Regretting how he’d brushed her off, Gosling rushes to the set only to discover that Blunt hadn’t asked for him and was still angry over their split. He still does the first batch of stunts.

Gosling is ready to leave the production when Gail urges him to find the star who has apparently gone off on one of his benders. If the backers even knew of Ryan’s absence, they’d kill the project, costing Blunt her one shot at the big time. Plenty of things go wrong, making for two hours of action comedy with elements of danger and suspense.

The script by Drew Pearce and Glen A. Larson (creator of the aforementioned TV series) absolutely delivers on the action sequences. It contains a slew of in-jokes and meta references, making fun of itself at a few points. But even as Gosling tells a guy that too much exposition ruins action flicks, that’s exactly what they’re doing throughout. Leitch could have easily trimmed off 20 minutes, or so, of bland or repetitive dialog and wound up with a perkier product. The running time is about the same as a couple of his that I loved - Deadpool 2 and Bullet Train – but seemed longer. Those kept moving, while this one slowed down for more talky bits than needed. Several times.

Despite the draggy parts, the film belongs in the plus column of Leitch’s resume. If you see it, go for the big screen to fully appreciate the scope of the stunts. Be sure to stay through most of the credits for the outtakes and two snippets that are among the film’s highlights moments.

(The Fall Guy opens in theaters on 5/3/24)