Welcome back stinkers! I have just recently finished watching The Fall Guy. Where it follows a stuntman having to do stunts for an actor, and now that stuntman has to do stunts to find out what happened to the actor who went missing. Today I’m going to review The Fall Guy, where I’ll start off with my non-spoiler review, and then go more into specifics, further elaborating on my thoughts.
Non-Spoiler Review
Chemistry
I’m just going to say it. I think I might actually love this movie. But, hey I can’t Ted this up and say I love you too early. Seriously though, the chemistry between Gosling and Blunt were great, I loved the action, and I really enjoyed the drama. The chemistry between Ryan Gosling’s character Colt, and Emily Blunt’s character Jody, were what probably carried the movie. The strongest part of the movie does have one weakness to it though.
Balance
I didn’t really think that the movie had proper balance. At the start it really seemed like a romcom, but it then did a pivot to full on action. The romcom element doesn’t really come back until the very end. Speaking of the very end, I do also think that you could’ve cut a chunk out of the end as well. I’ll talk more about that later. The one thing that made up for all of that though, was the relationship between Colt and Jody. I was really able to connect with them. These characters only added more depth and emotion to the story.
Love Letter to Stunting
This has been said countless times, this movie is a love letter to the stunt community. And I love that! For me it went above and beyond to where it felt like a love letter to film making in general. I was really able to appreciate seeing a new view into film making, what goes behind it. It was really able to prove a point that what goes on behind the scenes deserves a lot more recognition than what it is given.
Action
I do have to mention the action as well. On paper they were able to show how important stunt work is, but then they went beyond that, and actually showed how important it is. When the credits were rolling it showed a bunch of behind-the-scenes clips, showing that everything in here was real. Having an older stunt man direct this was brilliant! David Leitch was able to bring a good perspective to the table, and he was able to implement some great action sequences.
Drama
The last thing I wanted to mention before I get into my in-depth talk was the drama. Colt has to go outside from doing stunt work on set, to out in the city. He has to find out what happened to this actor who went missing and has made some connections with some bad people. This brought a lot of drama to the table, this will be something I talk about more later, but it got me hooked. The emotion from the chemistry of the characters brought into here is then shown through the drama. That’s where the characters shine the brightest.
Spoiler Review
Colt and Jody
Now like I said, the chemistry between these two was amazing. They allowed me to connect with the film, which then led into the emotion when it came to drama. It’s almost kind of like a circle. We start off with their relationship strong, then Colt breaks his back and ghosts Jody for a year. That’s when he is called back to work for Jody’s directorial debut. That is where Colt has to win back the love of his life.
Their Chemistry
I laughed during the moment where Colt is on set filming a scene and Jody projects their real-life experience in the movie with the space cowboy and alien. In fact, that’s the embodiment of what I love about this movie so much. You could also say another representation of the movie is when Colt finishes his first day filming. When he was listening to Taylor Swift, it added some more comical relief to the movie, and maybe even made Colt even more relatable. They have a bit of an awkward relationship with each other, and throughout the film it’s really built out. They have some ups and downs. It gave the movie more depth, and more emotion.
Ryan Gosling
I also really appreciate that I could sort of view myself as Colt. Now I will literally never be Ryan Gosling, but I really looked up to his character. Throughout the movie, he is after his dream girl, and he was just overall a relatable character for me. Now I love love LOVE the movies. As someone that doesn’t go to church, the theater is my church. It’s my place of comfort. Ryan Gosling was able to bump my love for movies even more. The amount of determination this character shows could just never be matched!
Emily Blunt
Now I always say, you need to give credit where credit is due. I couldn’t have Colt, who I love, without Jody. Ryan Gosling was able to extend my love of movie action, and movie stars. Emily Blunt was able to make me love film making, which I’ve always loved and wanted to do myself. You don’t just see the relationship between Colt and Jody grow, but you see her career grow.
Through the struggles of filming, to completing the film, to presenting it at Comicon. I do have to say, it caught me by surprise how they ended off the movie. You know they had to recast the main star, and I never expected it to be Jason Momoa. That right there is brilliant foreshadowing. To add more context, included in the abundance of sticky notes at Tom Ryder’s apartment had Momoa on it. Coming back to Jody now, I just really like how Jody became more independent, and became her own creative nature, standing up to the producer, Gail.
Tom Ryder
So, Tom Ryder is the villain of the movie, but we don’t really figure that out towards the end. Later on, in the movie it’s even revealed that he actually hit the button on the line, giving Colt his back injury that he was out for a year. That’s a great way to kind of connect the movie together. It gives Colt that drive to beat Ryder, to defy the odds and come back from a big explosion. It really allowed some more emotion to enter the movie for me. I mean I was happy when he got replaced. Talking about that whole plan that Colt and Jody unfold. I had no problem with the whole sequence itself, in fact I kind of loved it. The action in there was top notch! I always enjoy when these action sequences are able to move the story further. But that was the point I was like; ok let’s wrap it up.
Ryder and Gail’s Plan
The producer of the movie, Gail, was also in ties with Ryder as well. Talking about their plan, I was like, woah! It kind of shows how scary technology could be now days, with Colt being framed for the murder of Ryder’s other stuntman, when they were able to use Colt’s deepfake and put it over Ryder’s face. For the movie to then circle back, to the beginning of the movie was crazy! The beginning itself was already great, one that really introduced the meta commentary this movie has. You know, a movie within a movie. I will say that the reveal that Ryder was the one that caused Colt’s injury did feel a bit rushed. Which is a little weird because it feels like the movie went on for a little too long, but then some of those aspects felt rushed. It was a very minor issue for me, but if you’re going to take up some more space in the movie, you can’t blast through some major story points.
Metalstorm and Meta Commentary
Metalstorm
So, Jody gets her big directorial debut, with her movie Metalstorm. Jody originally started off behind the camera, but then Gail gives Jody her big break. Which makes Gail seem even more of a bad person, and more annoying. Like I said earlier when I was talking about Jody, I was cheering for her. In some ways her trying to finish the movie added more suspense to the film. It for sure put more pressure on Colt. Which then builds out more depth to when he has to miss karaoke. Then that leads to the whole sequence to try and expose Tom. Now, let’s just say that sequence was some dumb fun. Yes, I said, that it was kind of at the point to where the movie was going on too long. But once again, the action makes up for that. The action quite frankly added more to the movie, and even progressed the film. Something that I took away from that too was the way how they went back to square one. They used a camera to defeat Tom Ryder, which eventually lead to Colt and Jody getting back together.
Meta Jokes
Speaking about some of the meta jokes in here. They kind of caught me by surprise. Like when Gail told Colt about the world record they broke, that actually happened when they were filming The Fall Guy. How I received it was like it felt like an inside joke to me. Now I’m sure tons and tons of people already knew about this world record already, but the way they delivered it somehow made it feel personal. Which feels weird to say. That might just be the sexy bacon Gail was talking about. You also got the banter between Colt and his stunt director friend, Dan. They both seemed like big movie fans in the first place, which is even more great because this elevated my love for movies just a bit more. One last thing I wanted to mention again, was the ending. I did not expect for Jason Momoa to be cast as himself in the movie. What a great sort of cameo to end off with. It then cuts to an audience reaction of Jody’s Comicon presentation, and that was an awesome way to end the movie. Again, circling back to what was set up at the beginning. They were always talking about that Comicon shot, and now they’ve finally got it.
Love Letter to Stuntmen
Everyone can agree, this is a love letter to stunt people. They put the stuntman, above the main star. And like I keep saying, they put the action first. This has been one of a few times that I’ve seen the action further the story, or even develop characters. They even show the behind the scenes of some of these sequences. I’ve seen one complaint that they have these great action scenes, but then it gets ruined by a layer of CGI. Now I don’t really see it, but I might have to say it is made up for, when the credits roll. I think it was great to give these stunts more recognition. For someone that doesn’t look into this stuff, like me, then I think it was a good idea to show the general audience what goes on behind the camera. It’s just too bad, because this movie hasn’t opened with a good box office. This movie was just not dealt any good cards, so please, go see it. In fact, Ryan Gosling even said there’s already a script for a sequel. It’ll only happen if people like this one. So, I think there’s a good chance this movie happens. One could at least hope.
The Fall Guy Review Recap
I have really come to love this movie! I didn’t only find it as a letter to stunting, but a love letter to filmmaking. The action was really able to push the story along and have some of the best action of the year. It’s just too bad that once we get to one of the best sequences, the movie pacing wasn’t done well, to where it got to the point to where I was just waiting for them to wrap it up. Please, go see this movie! I thought that it was an amazing way to start the summer movie season. Ryan Gosling’s and Emily Blunt’s chemistry is unmatched! They literally carried.
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