Take The Leap- The Fall Guy [2024]

The Fall Guy was must see TV for the youngster I was. It was often fun and exciting, and we got a slim peek behind how some stunts in movies or TV shows were done. It was a seminal TV show for me, getting me interested in how movies were made. Also, it starred the Six Million Dollar Man, and there was also Markie Post who later moved on to Night Court.

The Fall Guy did its work to highlight those unknown heroes that were stuntmen (and women). I do remember the first Stunt Awards hosted by Lee Majors (which led to me checking out To Live and Die in LA – which should date the memory – due to its numerous nominations, particularly the vehicular category). It wasn’t an annual thing then, or maybe it was. I know the stunt awards these days is the Taurus World Stunt Awards, but that’s only been going on since 2001.

In the current cinematic era, stunts have become far more significant, especially to major blockbusters. Some even going back to old-school methods to bring that kinetic energy to the proceedings (see the likes of the Fast and Furious or Mission: Impossible franchises among many others).

At some point or other, The Fall Guy was always in line for an adaptation to the big screen. Now we get ex-stuntman turned major director David Leitch bringing Colt Seavers to the big screen with Ryan Gosling as the titular stuntman (and more). Really tho, who better than a stuntman to chronicle the adventures of a stuntman? Not that ex-stuntmen make good directors, but Leitch has a proven track record so far, even as a producer.

Instead of the part-time bounty-hunter Colt was in the TV series, he’s simply a stuntman here who had been doubling for major action star Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) but a career-ending accident puts him out of action. That is until he gets a call from Ryder’s business partner / producer (?) Gail Meyer (Hannah Waddingham) convincing Colt to help out on a new production helmed by ex-girlfriend Jody (Emily Blunt) by doubling Ryder again, especially since Ryder has disappeared from the production. Colt is asked by Gail to look for Ryder on the sly, and things really get crazy.

Of course, he first needs to work things out with Jody and that’s where much of the comedy comes from, mostly thanks to the incredible chemistry between Gosling and Blunt. They bring a lot of energy, verve, and fun to their character’s relationship. When they aren’t on screen together, it’s mostly Gosling’s showcase showing off his action and comedy chops too.

The true stars are the stunt team from 87North whose logo is all over the place as well, particularly on the set of the movie-within-the-movie that’s under production, Metalstorm (not the Charles Band 1983 sci-fi adventure, although it looks pretty close). With this team, we are getting a slew of stunt-work from the basic yet cooly choreographed fisticuffs to vehicular mayhem on land, water, and air incorporating the fights. Some can be seen in the trailer below.

Writer Drew Pearce does well enough with the story, seemingly emulating the convoluted plotting of Shane Black (who he worked with on Iron Man 3), but lacking a little in the dialogue department. Again, the stars do step up to that with aplomb.

As a whole, this is a quite the romp of a summer flick, a breezy and fun affair that doesn’t require much brain power and is high on the fun it’s having delivering a very entertaining movie. It even plays on the tropes of storytelling as Jody attempts to tackle the narrative of Metalstorm.

So, yeh, it all leans a little more towards my wheelhouse of movies, the narratives, the making of movies, and mostly good old fashioned stunt-work. While I might enjoy it a little more than others, this is still a solid and entertaining old-school summer movie.