The Fall guy recension

Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt are perfect love couple

Updated 2024-04-26 09.44 | Published 2024-04-25 17.15

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full screenRyan Gosling and Emily Blunt in full swing. Photo: Universal Pictures

The Fall guy

Regi David Leitch, med Ryan Gosling, Emily Blunt, Hannah Waddingham, Winston Duke, Ben Knight, Stephanie Hsu, Teresa Palmer.

Here, a lot of gunpowder is invested in action, but at heart “The Fall guy” is a romantic comedy. It lovingly pokes fun at the film industry and is about the filming of an effective blockbuster. An entertaining mix of stunts and nonsense that celebrates hard-working filmmakers.

ACTIONKOMEDI Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt are versatile skilled actors with a fine sense of comedy. They are very lovable as stuntman Colt Seavers and cinematographer Judy Moreno, and in the opening they are luminous with mutual love. We see them shooting another action movie with star Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson). A world famous actor who is evil, vain and self-absorbed. Something goes wrong during a scene.

The film continues 18 months later when Colt makes a living as a valet at a Mexican restaurant in Los Angeles. He gets a call from producer Gail (Hannah Waddingham) who asks him to come to Australia to be a stuntman for Tom Ryder again. Now Colt’s former love Judy has become a director and is directing the upcoming blockbuster. Will there be sparks between the former love couple? Well, she didn’t like him disappearing from her life.

The film within the film that she directs is called “Metalstorm”, a salute to the financial flop “Cowboys & Aliens” that came out in 2011. “Metalstorm” is about a cowboy who leads the war against aliens, but also has a passionate romance with an alien. This leads to parallels with “The fall guys” love story. Director Judy makes stuntman Colt sweat during demanding retakes.

Everything is done with humor and so many glints in the eye that you are dazzled. “Metalstorm” seems to be an extraordinarily silly film, difficult to take seriously. Which also makes the central love affair less poignant. Not easy to understand how the smart Jody would have had a lifelong dream to direct “Metalstorm”.

“The fall guy” also has a thriller plot when the star Tom Ryder disappears. His stuntman is persuaded to look for him in the darker parts of Sydney.

“The fall guy” is a tribute to stuntmen and film workers who create memorable scenes. The film features a record-long drive by car, 8 1/2 laps for those counting. Close to a hundred stuntmen have worked on the film, but it also uses digital arts.

The film is loosely based on the TV series “Stuntmannen” from 1981, where Lee Majors played stuntman/bounty hunter. The classic Kiss song “I was made for lovin’ you” is a recurring musical theme and Ryan Gosling’s character has gained his professional experience on a Miami Vice show. Plenty of old references.

A film about film, a tribute to film and how to create illusions. In an age of pretentious eternal epics with serious superheroes, it is liberating to have a lavish film spectacle that elevates the playful. Pleasant nonsense.

The film opens in theaters on April 26.

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full screen A romantic comedy with lots of action. And hats. Photo: Universal Pictures

Also be sure to see…

… “Civil war” about photojournalists in the American Civil War. Many stuntmen have helped give it nerve and excitement.

Did you know that…

… director David Leitch (“Bullet train”, “Atomic blonde”, “John Wick”) worked as a stuntman and was Brad Pitt’s double in several films.

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