Even since he co-directed John Wick with Chad Stahelski, David Leitch has become the go-to guy for sumptuous, star-studded action epics that – along with the ever escalating adventures of Stahelski’s Wick sequels – have elevated the action sequence to impressive heights. However despite rag-dolling themselves for their art, there’s still a disappointing amount for respect for the humble, stuntman who have been putting life and limb on the line to make other people look better.
However, in an attempt to address that heinous balance (why is there still no category for stunts at the Oscar’s?), Leitch has crashed back on the scene with a loose remake of Lee Majors’ 80s TV show, The Fall Guy that sees a white hot Ryan Reynolds hurl himself through the plate glass mantel of Colt Seavers. But can he, Leitch and Emily Blunt help give the long-suffering stuntman the kudos they deserve?
Not only is Colt Seavers a damn good stuntman, he’s the stunt double of Tom Ryder, a petulant and self-obsessed actor who is the hottest ticket in Hollywood – however, his career and a burgeoning love affair with camerawoman Jody Monreno are rudely cut short after a high fall goes horribly wrong. Cut to eighteen months later and we find Colt recovered from his injuries, but fallen almost entirely off the grid after walking away from his former life like he used to walk away from a rolled car.
Parking cars for a living and sodden with regret, Colt is suddenly contacted by Gail Meyer, Tom Ryder’s unscrupulous producer, who needs him to drag his unkempt butt over to Australia where the former girlfriend he jilted has successfully climbed the Hollywood ladder to direct Ryder’s latest movie. Under the impression that Jody has specifically requested him, Colt zips to the set of sci-fi epic, Metalstorm with the hopes of rekindling that old spark, only to find that Gail has summoned him for an entirely different reason.
It seems that Tom Ryder has suddenly vanished and if he isn’t located soon, it could effect Jody’s big break, so the love sick stuntman volunteers to seek out the star, reasoning that if he saves Metalstorm, he can fix things with his ex. However, things aren’t as simple as casually rocking up to Ryder’s luxury apartment and bringing him back to set when he finds that the star’s no-show could be the result of a strange conspiracy that involves dead bodies, drug induced unicorns and life and death struggles with gun waving thugs on the streets of Sydney that pushes his stunt guy skills – not to mention his chilled demeanor – to their very limits. Can Colt survive and get his second chance with Jody or has he given his last, stunt guy, thumbs up?
Once The Fall Guy starts, it doesn’t take long to see what what director Leitch and screenwriter Drew Pierce are shooting for – an unabashed, occasionally meta, love letter to films, filmmaking and the incredibly cool artistry of the professional stuntman. With its gradually unfolding plot merging with whip smart dialogue and a long suffering lead, a lot of the time, the movie feels like a far less spiteful version of a such entertaining Shane Black movies just as Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and The Nice Guys – which isn’t that surprising considering Ryan Gosling excelled in the latter and Pierce co-wrote Iron Man 3. The result is a delightfully perky action/comedy/romcom that defiantly wears its heart on the sleeve of a jumpsuit smeared in fire retardant jelly.
Standing stoic, with a love-sick expression permanently etched into his puppy dog eyes, is Gosling who continues to spring board off of his adored performance in Barbie to become one of the most enjoyably vunerable action stars in yonks. Not only his his battered body able to absorb various, bone jarring wallops for his art, but the poor shlub has a heart that’s survived being pummeled into hamburger by life and it’s utterly impossible not to root for a guy who worships his Miami Vice stunt crew jacket and agrees to be set ablaze repeatedly without a murmur of complaint.
Of course, having Emily Blunt play the object of your yearning just makes things so easy, especially considering that she could manage to induce sparkling chemistry with a bowl of fruit if a script demanded it, and so once you have these two unbelievably charismatic actors indulge in even casual flirting and banter, the movie manages to generate larger sparks than some of the explosions do.
However, while the Gosling/Blunt nexus of charm sucks everyone into its adorable nucleus, they’re backed up by the likes of Hannah Waddington, Winston Duke and an increasingly ridiculous Aaron Taylor-Johnson who magnificently mocks the notion of of the prima-donna action star with Quicksilver hair, a black-hole sized sense of entitlement and a surprisingly spot-on impersonation of Matthew McConaughey.
Of course, there’s the stunts themselves, and while some may be surprised that the film isn’t a more of back to back stunt show, the copious amounts of death defying feats really are a massive salute to the craft of the unknown stunt men who made Eastwood (and countless others) look so fine. While an omnipresent visual effects artist is constantly on hand to claim that they could just do it all digitally, twirling high falls, record breaking car rolls and a brawl in the back of a spinning truck are all delivered with dizzying panache and the movie even dutifully gives us an end credits montage that gives the appropriate props to the real daredevils who risked every bone their skeleton possesses in order to make this energetic romp soar.
It isn’t quite perfect – constant jokes about Metalstorm having third act problems leads to The Fall Guy’s own concluding section getting a little too convoluted and messy. However, the sheer likeability of everyone and everything involved manages to iron out those creases to the point that you’re simply have too much fun to care as quirks like a groin munching attack dog that only understands French, or a drugged-up Colt seeing stars when he punches someone, sweetens up an already pretty sweet deal.
Harking back to the character-lead actioners of the nineties (Gosling’s action accention feels weirdly Nic Cage-like in its lovable eccentricity), this goofy, heartfelt blast of Shane Black-lite bombast is an almost perfect way to kick off summer’s silly season. So relax, invite cynicism to leap a speedboat into a gargantuan explosion, and prepare to enjoy this highly enjoyable example of an ode to the world of cunning stunts.
Boom – there it is.
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