'The Fall Guy' Review: What's a Stuntman to Do? Get it off

I must confess that before watching the crowd-pleasing “The Fall Guy,” I had no idea that the film takes its title from the high-jumping stunt niche and was only vaguely aware that it was based on a TV series. '80s TV that I didn't watch because I was in college and spent most of my free time drinking watered-down beer in the left field pavilion at Dodger Stadium, wondering why Tommy Lasorda would let Tom Niedenfuer hit Jack Clark with a open ball base.

“The Fall Guy” has a much happier ending than that 1985 playoff series, but not for the reasons you might imagine. Given that director David Leitch is a former stuntman who dubs notable figures like Matt Damon and Brad Pitt, the film is expected to feature exceptionally high-risk work, and it does. However, at its best, it's a romantic comedy that relies on the charisma of its two attractive leads, Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt. You can come for the cannon shots. But then you'll remember Blunt's character yelling at Gosling for crying at Taylor Swift.

Why is Gosling crying? He's playing a stuntman. They don't usually wake up to his feelings. But Gosling's Colt Seavers has good reason to shed some tears. For years, he worked as a stuntman for prima donna action star Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson, offering a fun amalgamation of Tom Cruise and Matthew McConaughey), until a high fall went horribly wrong. Ashamed, he turns his back on Hollywood and the woman he loves, camera operator Jody Moreno (Blunt).

Eighteen months later, Colt receives a call from Ryder's nosy production partner, Gail (Hannah Waddingham of “Ted Lasso”), begging him to come to the Sydney set of the star's latest movie, a silly sci-fi epic called “Metalstorm,” which happens to be Jody’s directorial debut. Ryder has disappeared. Gail needs Cole's help to find him, and while he's there, he might pull off some stunts and, who knows, win back Jody's love.

The film's screenwriter, Drew Pearce, knows a thing or two about action movies (and, most likely, action divas and studio interference), with credits that include “Iron Man 3” and “Hobbs & Shaw.” Leitch. He fills the rollicking first hour of “The Fall Guy” with clever, self-referential riffs on big-budget filmmaking, the proper use of split screens and the curious lack of an Oscar category for stunts. (If there was one, and there should be, this film's stunt designer, Chris O'Hara, would win it with a walk.)

In one of the film's most inspired sequences, Jody makes Colt explain why he cheated on her, under the guise of explaining the love story in “Metalstorm,” while subjecting him to take after take of a trick in which he gets caught. fire and smash it against a rock. Who needs a revenge song when you can just yell “Action” repeatedly?

It's one of several scenes in which the film cleverly uses stunts to reveal character, advance the story, and make good use of Gosling's gift for physical comedy. If Colt can't give a thumbs up at the end of a trick, it's not just a blow to his ego. He's fighting his way through a bewildering cloud of confusion (not to mention being a suspect in a murder investigation) that not even a pitcher of spicy margaritas (no one says “hot margarita” better than Emily Blunt) with his lovely lady can accomplish. . solve.

The two protagonists enjoy a pace so calm that you're soon dreaming of the moment when their characters can go back to searching for that lost salt shaker. But then the film ditches Blunt and focuses entirely on the action, employing boats, helicopters, and garbage trucks in a series of undeniably impressive stunts, all to diminishing effect. One of the running gags in “The Fall Guy” has Jody trying to solve the problems of the third act of “Metalstorm.” She feels like Leitch and Pearce hit the same wall. But unlike Colt and his specialist brothers, they couldn't completely dust themselves off.

Or, more likely, in their minds, they did and made precisely the movie they intended. Given Leitch's background, it's no surprise that “The Fall Guy” ends up being a big bear hug for stunt people, a way to highlight a profession that, by definition, requires anonymity. The end credits feature behind-the-scenes footage of the film's stunts being performed, showing that we all had a good (and safe) time. His brotherly spirit reminded me of the bloopers you saw at the end of Burt Reynolds movies made by director Hal Needham who, yes, started his career as a stuntman.