The Fall Guy

Director David Leitch was unquestionably the right man for the job on this year's THE FALL GUY.  He knew the ropes, serving as stunt double on films dating back to FIGHT CLUB and V FOR VENDETTA before he picked up the bullhorn to oversee action fare like ATOMIC BLONDE and BULLET TRAIN.  His latest, with a screenplay by Drew Pearce, is a love letter to those who roll cars and become human torches on the silver screen.  The unsung heroes who make the lead actor - often an egomaniacal asshole - look damned good.  The film does not bare too much resemblance to the 1980s T.V. series of the same name, which starred Lee Majors (who may have a cameo here).

Ryan Gosling plays Colt Seavers, who's spent his career doubling for Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), a hard partying action film icon.  Colt is one of the most skilled of stuntmen, but a free fall goes horribly wrong and with a broken back and downed spirits he quits the biz.  He will also sever ties with his girlfriend, a camera operator named Jody Moreno (Emily Blunt). 

A year and a half later, film producer Gail Meyer (Hannah Waddingham, enjoying herself) calls to invite Colt for a job in Australia on a new science fiction film called METALSTORM, on which Jody is getting her first shot as director.  One the latter allegedly wants Colt for.  When the stuntman arrives, he learns that Gail fibbed about the Jody wanting him there part.  In fact, Jody is still bitter over Colt's abrupt exit.  In an amusing (if overlong) scene, the former lovers talk about the motivations behind a shot on the movie in thinly veiled swipes at each other.  In front of the entire crew.

Colt will also learn why Gail really invited him.  It seems that Tom has disappeared and if he isn't located within a few days the studio will pull the plug on the picture.  What will Colt find in his investigation?  Will his considerable skills serve him well?  The "bad people" he encounters don't use blanks or rubber knives.  The plot congeals. 

There are lots of funny industry jabs in THE FALL GUY.  Plenty of movie and TV references too, some not so subtle. There are at least two nods to Michael Mann, and numerous similarities to Tarantino's ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD.  The recurring motif of actors who claim they do their own stunts figures integrally into the plotting. 

But the movie, despite some excellent chemistry between the leads (who are both terrific), doesn't cut it in the romcom department.  I know, those are fairly low standards.  The dialogue between the pair tends to be awfully repetitive.  There are no less than three lengthy conversations that basically cover the same ground.  One of which is a clever but strangely blah split screen sequence.  While Leitch expectedly provides plenty of thrills with stunts that look real (most of the time), his acumen with romance isn't quite there.

But with comedy? As he demonstrated in DEADPOOL 2, Leitch is just as skilled with gag building as he is with fisticuffs and chases.   My favorite sequence has to be the fight in a dumpster being dragged by a garbage truck,  intercut with Jody doing a heartfelt karaoke rendition of Phil Collins' "Against All Odds".  That's some quality cinema right there.

P.S. -  Note the film's attempt to appeal to viewers young and not so with its eclectic soundtrack.  Hit and miss.