Newly released to theaters this weekend on May 3, 2024 is a comedy/love story/action film The Fall Guy that details a romantic relationship between a new film director (Emily Blunt) and a stuntman (Ryan Gosling).
Outside the film set, trouble arises when the lead actor (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) goes missing. The job of finding the lead actor, saving the film, and possibly impressing the director is given to the stuntman.
Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt carried this movie with their acting ability. Together, they both make this film work in the action-filled, intense, more serious moments, and of course, they rocked the comedic moments in the film, too.
Arguably the best part of this film is the stunts. Director Leitch has worked as a stunt man at least a dozen times in Hollywood productions, including five occasions as Brad Pitt’s body double. He leaned on stunt designer Chris O’Hara to create jaw-dropping, near-impossible stunts that mimic the risks stuntmen take in production in real life.
A stunt that stuck out was in one of the first moments of the film when Gosling’s character arrives on set and manages to pull off eight and a half cannon rolls (a cannon mechanism underneath a car sends the vehicle into a series of rolls) in a modified Jeep Grand Cherokee. This stunt done by stunt driver Logan Holladay broke a Guinness World Record for most cannon rolls.
The previous record was held by stuntman Adam Kirley, who received the record around two decades ago with a total of 7 rolls on the set of Casino Royale.
The Fall Guy majorly champions the unsung heroes of entertainment and production: stuntmen. Director David Leitch says, “We were rallying together to create some really provocative action that all the stunt community could get behind.”
It’s evident that Leitch believes stuntmen need to be more recognized in mainstream entertainment with nearly a dozen jokes throughout the film hinting stuntmen need to be in an Oscar category or be awarded for their efforts more prominently. His passion makes the film feel much more accurate, passionate, and compelling.
However, The Fall Guy does feel way longer than necessary. The movie is around two hours long with six minutes of credits, so around one hour and fifty-five minutes of screen time. It should be cut down just a little bit, maybe ten minutes or so to keep the audience engaged in certain scenes.
There are a couple of moments between stunts throughout this movie that are just filler to draw out the climax of the movie, so those should be the moments to cut in the film.
This movie is also a little cheesy when it comes to the romance and comedy portions of it. I didn’t mind this at all while watching, but if you are not one to like a rom-com, baseline, simple kind of humor you may not enjoy this film as much as I did.
Overall, The Fall Guy is a decent movie to watch with a perfect balance between character romance, comedy, and action. Despite how long it is, I would recommend this movie for those who enjoy a mix of comedy and action or for people who are simply mesmerized by Gosling’s level of acting ability and the hilariousness he brings to every film.
