An Overlong but Fun Ride
Summary
The Fall Guy has an entertaining first half with some fantastic action scenes, but this is more of a romantic comedy than an action picture and it just went on too long at the end when it could easily have been 90 minutes. I like Gosling and Blunt together as they have real chemistry, but there just isn’t enough to the story to justify the runtime.
Plot: After leaving the business one year earlier, battle-scarred stuntman Colt Seavers springs back into action when the star of a big studio movie suddenly disappears. As the mystery surrounding the missing actor deepens, Colt soon finds himself ensnared in a sinister plot that pushes him to the edge of a fall more dangerous than any stunt.
Review: If ever there’s a movie, I should absolutely love it’s The Fall Guy; I grew up with the TV show and I think anyone my age was in love with Heather Thomas.
This reboot/remake/whatever starring Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt (as everyone has already stated) is a love letter to the stunt industry. We get references to other movies and TV shows constantly and the nod to Miami Vice was obviously the highlight of the movie for me as it is still my all-time favourite television series.
The Fall Guy is more of a romantic comedy with a few action scenes sprinkled in, and I only liked it where I really wanted to love it. Gosling and Blunt were fantastic and had great chemistry together, but you could easily have cut several of their scenes to make the runtime a bit tighter. There were a few moments where I was just bored as the “cute” dialogue started to grate after 25 minutes.
The script in general could have been better as there were moments where our audience was silent when you know the writers thought they were being funny (the “sexy bacon” chat being one of them) but it just wasn’t.
The action scenes are what elevate the film as they are mostly done practically with some incredible stunts; the problem is most of the material in between. The plot is paper thin and there just isn’t enough to keep things going for the 2-hour runtime. This could easily have been 90 minutes and frankly once we got to the Miami Vice scene the film was done and could have wrapped up there. I have to admit I nearly cheered thinking that was an amazing finale… but then it went on for another half hour.
They also changed the lyrics of The Fall Guy theme at the end which my buddy Jay commented on as he knows the lyrics off by heart.
Overall, The Fall Guy is an entertaining homage to the stunt industry with some cracking set-pieces and a generally fun tone, but the writers forgot to give us a decent story to go alongside the action. This is definitely worth seeing on the big screen as there is some genuine spectacle here and Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt are a great pair making for fun Saturday night fare.