Ryan Gosling has been outstanding in many dramatic roles, but damn does he ever have some good comedic skills, too.
Gosling stars as Colt Seavers, an experienced stunt man who had a steady career and a budding romance with a camerawoman, Judy (Emily Blunt). However, that came to an end with a bad injury that took him a long time to recover from. He’s convinced to come out of retirement, though, to work on a film that’s being directed by Judy, which is her first project.
It’s an awkward experience because he broke up with the up-and-coming director after his injury. The situation is made even more complicated when the actor Colt is doing stunts for suspiciously disappears. It turns out, there are nefarious reasons why, and as Colt searches for the star, he’s put in danger.
Sometimes a film can feel dated in a good way. “The Fall Guy” feels like a throwback to the 90s and 2000s era of action comedies. In the past decade, the summer movie season has been mostly dominated by large budget blockbusters full of CGI. Now, there’s no doubt some CGI was likely used in this film, but “The Fall Guy is a much more grounded picture.
In that sense, it’s reminiscent of down-to-Earth action adventures that while being rather predictable, provided a fun experience and was powered by its stars. These used to be the main attractions during the summer and “The Fall Guy” has that type of energy.
So, yeah, the film isn’t the strongest in the story department. It’s fairly generic and predictable, yet the familiar formula isn’t too much of a detriment here. The picture is raised above average thanks to its leads and some solid action set pieces.
Regarding the latter, a ton of credit has to go to Gosling. He’s shown time and again, whether it’s in “Crazy, Stupid, Love,” “The Big Short,” “The Nice Guys” and last year’s “Barbie,” that he has tremendous comedic abilities.
He pulls it off again here. It should be noted that this isn’t a completely comedic role compared to some of those others, but when he needs to deliver humorous material, he nails it. His character here is a bit lovesick, certainly sarcastic and and is ultimately likable, and Gosling turns on the charm and charisma to make him a protagonist worth rooting for.
Blunt does fine work here as well. She doesn’t get as much screentime as Gosling, with the film often following his adventures. However, during her time on screen she is enjoyable as the passionate and fairly stressed rookie director. Her chemistry with Gosling is also quite good and makes their relationship believable.
The action in the film is pretty fun as well. There’s a real highlight in the form of an extended chase scene that gets absolutely wild. There’s also some entertaining hand-to-hand combat sequences and an exciting boat chase moment.
“The Fall Guy” doesn’t earn many points when it comes to its plot and in all honesty, the film goes on a tad too long with a climactic finale that gets a bit absurd. However, most of the action is fun and the two main stars power the film to be a mostly enjoyable experience. 3.75 out of 5.
Matthew Liedke on Film 
A great review. This is definitely one of my most anticipated movies of 2024. I am a massive fan of Ryan Gosling who has proven an extraordinary actor. He’s proven he can excel in any genre such as comedies, dramas and musicals. For instance, I adored his performance as a jazz musician searching for success in L.A. in “La La Land”. In one phenomenal performance, Gosling showcased skills for acting, singing and dancing. So, I’m looking forward to seeing his next film.
Here’s why I loved “La La Land”:
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Great review once again. I recently had an opportunity to see this movie finally and have to say I disagree with your review. I thought it was a fantastic tribute to stunt performers. Gosling and Blunt were both amazing. It’s not a masterpiece, but still an enjoyable film. Here’s my thoughts on it:
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Good review. I felt that the movie was good, but could’ve been better in a few areas. The concept idea / premise for the plot was good, but took a while to develop and some of those storytelling elements sort of went on a bit of a tangent, especially the third act finale. Still, Gosling and Blunt were solid in it and I did like how the film paid its respects to the stunt community.
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