Over the years in the film industry we were privileged to see dangerous, extreme stunts and those that brought our hearts to the floor. Today, we know the actors Tom Cruise and Jackie Chan who do their own stunts and don’t use doubles to make the movie more “real”. Therefore, these people risk their bodies on a daily basis on the photo set so that the final product is not only good, but perfect. They are what make action movies more fun and without them our favorite movies wouldn’t be the same. So in the context of this, the director David Leitch took on the project to create a film based on the TV series from the 80’s – The Fall Guy or as it is professionally called “The Double”.
So first of all, what exactly is a “double”? They are the stuntmen who take damage on the set instead of the actors. Any dangerous stunt such as: a fire, falling from a building, a car accident and many other extreme cases that can cause certain death – are actually the human shield of the players themselves. Therefore, sometimes a dangerous stunt can even cause a tragic death, and unfortunately there are no shortage of such cases in the world.
To places, high school, action!
So the movie “The Double” follows an overconfident man who has been in the stunt business for six years named Colt Sievers (Ryan Gosling) who returns to the set after a long hiatus following an accident. Colette’s comeback in his profession is the debut film of Judy Moreno (Emily Blunt) – his ex. Colt’s job is to be the stunt double for Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor Johnson), aside from his name being a pun on an iconic character, Tom is one of the most popular actors in Hollywood and Colt has actually been working with him for a good few years. So basically Colt is coming back to the industry for one more movie, and don’t worry there’s more to say about the story but we’ll refrain from telling it because if you haven’t watched any trailers, you’re going to have a rollercoaster of a pan, because not only is this movie surprisingly good, you can already say wholeheartedly which is one of the best movies of the year.
I’ll tell you in all honesty, I wasn’t really hyped for this movie. In fact, I almost forgot it existed – I thought the movie would be just fine, the concept of the movie that Gosling is a stuntman wouldn’t have sounded the most exciting thing and in retrospect, I realize I was wrong. What seemed like a simple concept on paper is executed in a way that I didn’t think I would enjoy so much.
However, I will point out that the plot is indeed generic in the end, and there are consistency problems here and there about halfway through the film that sometimes also feel illogical when you get to the third act in the film, the script is even aware of these problems and even tends to laugh at them. Despite everything, you can forgive them for these things, because after the whole experience that the movie left us from the first frame to the end, it’s a big smile on our faces.
We should note that the length of the film is 126 minutes including the end credits and although you can talk a lot about the plot and how banal it is, that is not what the film is really aiming for. This is one of the few films that you will almost not feel during its length the very fact that it is so enjoyable to watch, packed with action, quite a bit of romance and the most important thing is that it is really funny. Among all the jokes, there are great moments of humor that made the whole hall chuckle and also burst out laughing. Furthermore, the script takes the opportunity to joke about some of the action stars, including Cruise in particular and Hollywood in general.
A love letter to the old action movies
If you didn’t know, the director of the film David Leitch was a stuntman for Brad Pitt himself – so when he finally makes a film about his old profession you can say it’s a form of saying “thank you” to everyone who risks their lives doing this. Since becoming a director, all his films have always conveyed a sense of fun: “Bullet Train”, “Deadpool 2”, “Atomic Bomb” and even one of my personal favorite films – John Wick (2014) even though he did not receive credit for his work as a director and only His production company partner, Chad Stahlsky, has gained a lot of fame.
When you think about it in depth the execution of the cinematography from the very idea that it is a film based on the behind the scenes of a film stands out as an idea no less than brilliant. The film is packed with action sequences and dangerous stunts, it has a great self-humor – laughs a lot at the action film industry, including even the immortal Tom Cruise and it just works throughout.
To Leitch’s credit, there are maybe a few times on average, maybe 20 minutes total, that take a moment of romance to give a “deeper” layer, and the director somehow manages to integrate it in a great way that doesn’t take too many dominant parts of the film, so that you don’t think for a moment that you’re watching in the drama.
Like David’s previous films that are loaded with action sequences, here too the budget costs of the practical effects were not cut – almost no visual effect was used here, most of the extreme stunts in the film are completely real. As mentioned, the cinematography is also spectacular, taking great shots from afar and up close on the action to make the scene much more enjoyable to watch. The very fact that the film takes pictures of the behind the scenes of another film is great to me – there are certain sections that alternate between the camera of the “double” film and the camera of the fictitious film as shot with the lighting and effects and give the feeling of “unedited photography”, actually before it reached the post-production stages – to give The viewer has this feeling that he is part of the film. Also, next to all the spectacular action scenes, the production decided to shoot a Guinness record which, surprisingly, was even brilliantly inserted into the script.
“I do the stunts myself”
In addition to the great work of the effects and stunt team, the real star of the film is undoubtedly Ryan Gosling (“La La Land”, “Blade Runner: 2049”). He took everything he had learned so far from the comedy films he starred in including “Barbie”, “Detectives Ltd” and brought his best to date. From the first frame he entertains us, makes us laugh and takes the role of the rough and brash stuntman one step further. In addition to his comedic acting ability in the film, he also did some of the stunts himself, whether it was falling from a car or choreographing contact fights. Things seem relatively simple to the eye, but in practice not everyone would agree to do it (among us, none of them Not Tom Cruise), which shows that he has not bad physical expression at all. The most dangerous segments such as being hit by a car or long falls, took on his back for the journey – ironic that it happens in a film that is all homage to this art.
Alongside Ryan Gosling, Emily Blunt (“Oppenheimer”, “A Quiet Place”) – who was “his opponent” last July at Bernheimer and who, just like him, was a supporting character in a blockbuster film (Oppenheimer), now took the role of director (of the fictitious film in “the double”) brilliantly. The chemistry between Gosling and Gosling just works wonderfully – when she’s in the director’s seat and he absorbs all the physical and mental injuries from her, it’s a love story that looks stunning and is even executed in such a great way. Sometimes she even takes the role a little too seriously, after all it is clear that this is behind the scenes work in a fictitious film, and that these two express a strong and significant emotion. True, the great majority of the film revolves around Gosling’s character, but Blunt took an equally significant role, to be honest, even very important. Because like behind the scenes of the movies: a product does not exist without someone to be responsible for it (the director) just as it cannot exist without its cast of actors and the production and all. The role of the director rests on her, and who knows, maybe one day she will actually direct her own film. Emily Blunt and Ryan Gosling
There is also the cast of supporting actors without whom this entire production would not exist: Hannah Weddingham (“Sex Education”, “Ted Lasso”), Winston Duke (“Black Panther”, “Us”) and Aaron Taylor Johnson (“Bullet Train “, “Avengers: Age of Ultron”). Although they are hardly noticeable in the film compared to Blunt and Gosling who steal the show, they are an equally important factor that keeps the plot moving forward.
Among other things, the film has an excellent soundtrack in the flavor of the 80’s – rhythmic, not located in different areas of the film and playing with perfect timing. I won’t lie because there were moments when one of the songs started looping in different rhythms, and I didn’t really understand why. There are many more songs from the 80’s and in total maybe five of them are used and one modern song that even manages to thread it into the plot in a great way.
At the end of the day, after so many movies that have forgotten what it is to make a great action comedy – last year it was “Guardians of the Galaxy: Part 3” and most likely later this year with “Deadpool & Wolverine”. But Kapil has something more realistic about him that is fun to look at, when a movie manages to entertain an entire audience with its humor throughout, there is something special here that hasn’t been around for a long time. I am of course talking about a more realistic fan who takes the art of stunts too seriously. When the movie comes to an end, take a few moments to rest and process what you’ve seen and appreciate this beauty called a “stunt double,” because a surprise awaits you at the end.
The movie “The Double” is exactly what we need most right now, a movie that is all one big fun. There aren’t many movies like this in Hollywood today that can do what David Leitch created. The double is a letter of appreciation to all the stuntmen in the world who risk themselves every day on the set to bring us a powerful experience to the cinemas. It’s not a movie that will take an Oscar, probably won’t even be nominated for next year. Therefore, watching it on the biggest screen completely intensifies the experience that the film wants to convey. Because in the end, despite the banal plot, it provides the viewer with two hours of fun that you just won’t want to end. Miraculously David Leitch managed to create a great combination of comedy, action and romance. He brought us back to the era of movies that took the stunt business more seriously and after all! All of this would not exist if it were not for the perfect work of the production and also the cast members, especially Ryan Gosling, his doubles and Emily Blunt who do a perfect job in every frame they appear on the background. I really don’t remember the last time I left a movie in the cinema with such a fun feeling, because if I put as a comparison for a moment movies like “Holit: Part 2” and “Oppenheimer”, which are masterpieces that take the art of cinema to a tragic and dark pan that left us speechless, but Didn’t make the feeling all that fun in the end. As for the “double”? It gives a sense of optimism that there is still a place in Hollywood for original and almost CGI-free stunt films, because this film is nothing short of a surprise.
