On April 25, the comedy action film «The Fall Guy» starring Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt was released in cinemas. This is a film adaptation of the eponymous adventure series, which ran for 5 seasons and was broadcast on ABC from 1981 to 1986. The film was directed by David Leitch, who has managed to establish himself as an excellent director of action films over the past 10 years («Atomic Blonde», «Fast and Furious: Hobbs and Shaw», «Bullet Train»). In this review, we explain why the new movie is so pleasant to the viewer’s eye.
Pluses:
cool stunts and generally high-quality action sequences; good chemistry between Gosling and Emily Blunt; interesting behind-the-scenes of the production; good humor and appropriate irony; nice cameos; good soundtrack
Minuses:
the detective component is purely formal; in general, the plot is unpretentious
«The Fall Guy»
Genre comedy action movie
Director David Leitch
Starring Ryan Gosling, Emily Blunt, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Anna Waddingham, Theresa Palmer, Winston Duke, Stephanie Xu
Premiere movie theaters
Year of issue 2024
Website IMDb
Colt Seavers is a highly professional stuntman and permanent stunt double of Hollywood superstar, heartthrob Tom Ryder. Colt is in a romantic relationship with the best girl in the world, cameraman Jodie Moreno, has a job he loves and is completely confident that his life is a success. But one unfortunate accident on the set puts an end to this confidence: the stuntman loses his career, his loved one, and most of all, himself.
Fate gives him a second chance when producer Gail Meyer approaches him and offers him a cameo in the former’s debut film — space sci-fi «Metal Storm». Colt initially refuses, but when he hears that Jodie personally insisted on his presence, he immediately goes to the filming location. But later, the hero faces a much bigger problem than the fear of returning to his profession. Tom Ryder’s mysterious disappearance promises to disrupt the project and bury his beloved’s dreams of a directing career forever.
Former stuntman David Leitch, who has repeatedly stood in for Brad Pitt, knows better than anyone else how to make a complex stunt movie and the cost of doing these stunts.
At its core, «The Fall Guy» — is a love letter to the dangerous vocation chosen by anyone who runs on a razor’s edge for the sake of fleeting audience entertainment. It’s a job that almost always goes unnoticed, and all the glory goes to the star actors. A routine from the category of «while you were filming a bed scene with Kim Basinger, I was on fire in a car». Even the damned «Oscar» doesn’t have a consolation category that could honor the thankless work of stuntmen.
Leitch’s new film is also meant to remind us that no computer-generated special effects, which are packed into modern high-budget blockbusters, no Avengers and your toy «infinity stones» can replace real practical tricks. And it’s no secret that fresh air is much healthier than stuffy rooms with green or blue walls. So, in this context, the director is inclined to an old-school approach to action scenes, thus referring to the era when the original TV series was released.
However, the most attractive thing about «The Fall Guy» is not even this, but the filmmakers’ undisguised desire to entertain their audience to the highest possible standard, and here the film is in perfect order. This is a vivid example of how a rather unpretentious plot can be used to create an outstanding and fun movie attraction, two hours of pure pleasure.
Perhaps I shouldn’t remind you once again that the action here is staged and filmed perfectly. This, Mr. Snyder, is how slamming should be used, and, as we can see, it is more appropriate to do it to the sweet sounds of classical music (a cover of I Was Made For Lovin’ You) than to a pretentious, overwhelming soundtrack.
The genre of the film is a bizarre cocktail of action, romance and detective, and all these trends get along well together.
Litch enthusiastically opens the curtain of filmmaking, discusses the appropriateness of a poly screen within a poly screen, refers to setting «Dune» and sci-fi blockbusters about encounters with aliens In general. When it comes time to mention an authentic stunt performer, let it be Tom Cruise. If you quote someone, why not the hero of the first «The Fast and the Furious» — a true cult action movie from a bygone era. And if you flip cars upside down, it’s only to get into the Guinness Book of Records.
This fun and loud adventure is supported by appropriate irony and good on-screen interaction. The former is provided by the completely caricatured Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who embodies the collective image of stars spoiled by fame. The second is played by Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt, who have a fascinating chemistry and interesting relationship dynamics. Gosling, though refuses from the luxurious Stallone fur coat, but still looks surprisingly stylish.
In the supporting roles, you can see the star «Ted Lasso» Anna Waddingham and, respectively, «Black Panther» Winston Duke, which complement the main storyline quite well. In the old John Wick tradition, there is also a cute dog. We’d also like to mention a few wonderful cameos that further sweeten the overall impression of the movie.
As a result, the viewer gets two hours of great entertainment, which is achieved thanks to the titanic work of many months of filmmakers and stuntmen in particular. And this is always worth remembering.