The Fall Guy

Better than Dune! Excellent, imaginative, romantic comedy with polished action and filmed with incredible flair. David Leitch reminisces about his stunt years and inspires lots of little kids to get punched, smashed and knocked down, then deepfake them into the star of the film. Ryan Gosling in The Nice Guys mode and Emily Blunt in superwoman mode are having an incredible time, and the chemistry is conjuring unicorns before your eyes. (05/09/2024)

Ryan Gosling is the action hero that modern masculinity needs, and this film is a magnificent culmination of the roles that he has played so far and his image. Instead of bombastic macho tough guys, here we have a guy who can handle wild physical challenges, but he also knows how to come to grips with his emotions (even if it’s only by listening to plaintive songs in his car) and can be sensitive, supportive and friendly towards others while taking himself with a sense of detached humour. And on top of that, he’s also both hot and adorable. In addition, The Fall Guy offers up a bombastic tribute to stunt work that comprises a grand culmination of the work done by the stunt and choreography group 87eleven, or rather its production division, 87North. Besides the trademark style of fight choreography, the filmmakers fortunately focused primarily on the logistically more challenging aspects of stunt work with automobiles, explosions and collisions, and every possible kind of fall, which they execute not only for the camera, but also for the narrative. All of this is done mainly with the aim of lobbying for the rectification of the nonsensical neglect of stuntpeople at the hands of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. (However, it could possibly be argued that the Academy doesn’t overlook stuntpeople because it would want to somehow draw attention away from the behind-the-scenes magic of film, but solely because most members of the Academy don’t understand the industry and the results of voting would correspond to that, as is the case with the animation category.) In light of all of that, The Fall Guy also works as a refreshingly exaggerated romantic comedy that takes the female point of view rather than the usual male perspective. Though it’s true that the film is somewhat handicapped by the uneven screenplay and exceedingly obvious utilitarianism of the individual peripeteias, which serve as an excuse for staging particular bits of choreography, this is offset by the fact that the filmmakers know how to shoot everything with maximum effectiveness and entertainment value, which is not true of the film’s spiritual ancestor, Hooper (1976), by the first stuntman-turned-director, Hal Needham. (05/03/2024)

Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt are great, David Leitch clearly enjoyed being able to make a film about his own craft... But I stopped believing almost everything in The Fall Guy after about half an hour, when the main plot was in full swing. As with the previous Bullet Train, it became a parade of not entirely believable to the point of stupid situations, from which only the split-screen conversation and the action scene with the container stood out. On top of that, the film was terribly long, and could have ended an estimated three times before the very end. Too bad. I'm not one of those people who constantly claim that the grass was greener and the sky was bluer before, but here it must be said that an honest film that glorifies the profession of stunt work and is genuinely funny, wacky and believably romantic was made 47 years ago, Animal with Belmondo (05/09/2024)

If you're going to make an unpretentious action comedy, this is how you do it. Putting aside the most questionable thing – the crime plot at the heart of the film is very simple and silly, but it's not really the point, the whole thing is pulled along by both the action-packed stunt attractions, but mostly by the charisma of the two leads. Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt work great together, they have visible chemistry and their verbal banter at times almost makes you think of classic screwball romantic comedies. It's actually a nice love letter from Drew Pearce and David Leitch to all the stuntmen, the "invisible" crew members and filmmaking in general, and the idyllic romanticization of the whole creative process without a single hint of cynicism works very well for the audience. (04/25/2024)

David Leitch pays homage to the stunt craft and filmmaking, and it's enjoyable entertainment that won't offend anyone in the cinema, but it just doesn't live up to his previous effort Bullet Train - that was far more substantial in terms of action and humour, and more importantly it was R-rated, so I liked it better. It's quite ironic that the film's strengths don't include the action, which is more creative and interesting than excellent, and the humour is only mildly amusing rather than a loaded comedy ride, but the film gets plus points elsewhere. Like the great chemistry between Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt, it had emotion and this whole romance thing works great, but what I liked most was the behind the scenes of the filmmaking, where Leitch shows a lot of things from the other side and I enjoyed that. There are also a lot of movie references, I really liked the action scene on LSD at the disco (probably the most original fight ever) and then the finale, which is decently spectacular and fun. The icing on the cake is the trailer for the final film which is reminiscent of Honest Trailers (the same guy speaks by the way), I was very pleased with that. Fun, playful and heartfelt. 8/10 (05/09/2024)