The Fall Guy review: Death-defying stunts and charismatic performances make for a brilliant blockbuster
Topics: Ryan Gosling, Emily Blunt, Review, Film and TV
Michael Slavin
Featured Image Credit: Universal Pictures
Topics: Ryan Gosling, Emily Blunt, Review, Film and TV
The Fall Guy has really hit home what many of us already knew: Ryan Gosling is one of the most charismatic actors in the world.
Whether it be dark drab roles like in Blade Runner 2049 or Drive, more goofy outings like Barbie and The Nice Guys, or action roles like The Fall Guy – he manages to elevate the film every time.
The Fall Guy is a genuine delight, full of fun moments, chemistry between Gosling and Emily Blunt, and unsurprisingly, some of the best stunt work in years.
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The film follows Gosling as Colt Seavers – a stunt-man brought back into the game after more than a year of retirement following a serious injury.
Add to this his unrequited love for ex-girlfriend and director Jody Moreno, played by Blunt, and you get a brilliantly fun love story told via a passion for stunts.
Directed (in real life) by David Leitch, the man who brought John Wick to the world was himself a stuntman for much of his career – and that love for his profession is clear in the film.
The world-record breaking stunts in the film take centre stage as expected, but it’s still amazing to see a film so clearly ideologically dedicated to real stunts - and using as little VFX as possible.
While the comedy for the most part lands – with Hannah Waddingham and Winston Duke both standing out alongside the main duo – some of it doesn’t.
A few of the comedic scenes drag too long, on some occasions causing them to borderline on cringe as a result.
One 'joke' about Johnny Depp and Amber Heard was a massive lowlight. It was disrespectful and gross, and dropped like a wet fart in the cinema.
You could feel the sharp inhale from everyone attending as it was said.
This, thankfully, is an offensive outlier, as the rest of the movie does a far better job of being respectful to the industry.
Whilst a sequel has already been written according to Ryan Gosling – I’d really argue it is unnecessary. This may sound like a negative, but it’s really not, the film is brilliantly self-contained and structured, and thus just doesn’t seem to leave much room for a follow-up.
That said, if more blockbusters were this fun, the industry would be in a far better place.
The stunt work is exhilarating, the soundtrack is stellar, and the performances from the all-star cast are brilliant.
The David Leitch action film may not have had a mammoth box office opening weekend, but I’d expect word of mouth to travel fast on this film.
Gosling and Blunt shine in the lead roles, and the film is fun, original, and a great time out – the perfect cinema trip.
⭐ ⭐ ⭐.5