Wednesday 22 May 2024

FILM: The Fall Guy (dir: David Leitch, 2024)

"I don't WANT real!"

David Leitch delivers yet another pleasantly entertaining slice of action mayhem with The Fall Guy, nominally inspired by the less-than-classic 1980s TV show of the same name.  Here, Ryan Gosling plays the stunt man Colt Seavers, who doubles for an arrogant star (well-played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson); eighteen months after an horrific on-set accident, Seavers is called back into action to Australia by an overbearing producer (a great role for Hannah Waddingham) for his ex-love's directorial debut (Emily Blunt, great in the role), a terrible generic sci-fi actioner, Metalstorm, but when also tasked with tracking down the missing leading man, he gets drawn into the world of this lively mystery and romance thriller.  As a tribute to the 'unsung heroes' - the stuntpeople - the film is affectionate and effective, as is the pulling back of the film-making curtain at times. With a great cast and some lively action mayhem, the film juggles lots of different elements, and whilst it is generally effective and enjoyable - increasingly so as the film progresses - there are times when you wish for more of certain aspects, such as more dialogue between Blunt and Gosling, who are a great romantic pairing and both drive this film really well, more of Taylor-Johnson's obnoxious star, more of Hannah Waddingham's deluded madness, and even more of the gloriously knowing and daft film-within-a-film.  Overall,  The Fall Guy is a solidly entertaining action/thriller/romance/comedy mash-up.  Stay watching the good behind-the-scenes footage that plays alongside most of the end credits, which concludes with a fun additional scene that nods to the original and wraps up the plot.

 

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