I might be one of the only people under fifty years old who has been excited about The Fall Guy and knows that it’s a movie that is a reboot of the television show. The Fall Guy was a show I’d watch on the weekends through syndication reruns. It starred Lee Majors, who also played the Six Million Dollar Man – Lee Majors is a syndication rerun icon. The Fall Guy was about a stuntperson who, on the side, was a Bounty Hunter in between jobs. He had his stunt person in-training younger cousin Howie and Jody, a stuntwoman who would assist him on these jobs and drive a kick-ass GMC Pickup truck. This show, like many others, had me in a chokehold as they had their weekly adventures and the iconic theme song sung by Majors himself. Ever since they started remaking 80s TV shows into new shows or films, I’ve been chomping at the bit for someone to do The Fall Guy, and low and behold, I’ve finally got it in 2024, a whole big-budget summer movie version of one of my favorite TV shows I watched as a kid.
The Fall Guy stars Ryan Gosling as Colt Seavers, a veteran Hollywood stuntman for big-time star Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), who’s a real piece of work. Colt loves Camera Operator and aspiring Director Jody Moreno, played by Emily Blunt. Still, things take a turn for the worse when Colt is severely injured redoing a stunt in a film they are all working on. Fast forward almost two years and Colt is pretty down bad and is out of the stuntperson business. After getting a call from producer Gail Meyer (Hannah Waddingham), Colt must come to Australia to be Tom’s stunt double again to help save Jody’s film. He can’t turn down the attempt to see Jody again and help her. Once there, he gets more than he bargained for as he has to repair his strained relationship with Jody and find the missing star, Tom, whom no one knows is missing.
So this movie feels very much like a throwback; while it’s based on an 80s TV show, it also feels like a big summer movie from the early 2000s. Here we have two attractive stars in an action romantic comedy. Gosling here is in some of his most charismatic with this performance as the lovable Colt which is pretty different from the OG one. For me, he was bringing a mix of his performance in Crazy, Stupid, Love, and The Nice Guys. Colt is a lovable loser like Holland March but a romantic lover boy like Jacob Palmer. He has excellent chemistry with Blunt on the screen every time they share it. He also works great with Winston Duke, who plays his best friend and stunt director Dan Tucker. They instantly click, and I would love to see them in more action comedies together. Both Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Hannah Waddingham kill it, as the cartoonish Hollywood stereotypes both had me laughing the whole time.
Speaking of laughing the script might be a bit too on the nose with its referential nature of movie-making and script writing in the story, but honestly, having filmmakers talking in movie-making terms in their life isn’t that crazy. It does it well enough to keep things light and not overwrought. The film is paced very well, and to me, the overall story and plot felt like the plot of a two-hour TV pilot for a network hour-long series. Of course, it has this huge budget, but it did hit those right story notes and tone. Drew Pearce gets some kudos from me, and I really liked how David Leitch directed this film. The action setpieces are fantastic on the cinema screen. You don’t get lost; it keeps you in the film the whole time and never feels too long. Jonathan Sela, the cinematographer, deserves praise because this film is so bright and colorful. Everything pops, and nighttime looks like night. Nothing is flat and I could see everything. So many films are failing at this right now that this stands out a lot. This film really looks damn good.
The last thing to bring up is the stunts are amazing in this, and it should be as it’s a film about a stuntman (the unknown stunt performer that makes big stars look so fine) and the film goes out of its way to give flowers to this vital part of the cinema industry. It’s open about making it’s case that these performers need to get more awards consideration but isn’t preachy at all. Having a movie in a movie and really showing that part was a new angle to see, and it also did right by the old show as that also gave focus to showing stunts being performed. I’m biased as all I really wanted to like about this film was to hear the theme song at the end, and it did that. Still, for everyone else, The Fall Guy is a great way to start the summer in the movie theaters with a fun and fantastic funny action romp with some of the best actions scenes of the year. Go get wowed by The Fall Guy.
Objective score: B+
Personal Fall Guy fan score: A
