The Media Tourist

Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt put the heart in this slam-bang salute to Hollywood’s unsung heroes

The Fall Guy
Starring Ryan Gosling & Emily Blunt
Directed by David Leitch
Rated PG-13

In theaters Friday, May 3

Stunt professionals “take it on the chin” in nearly every movie, getting punched and pummeled, tumbling out of cars, plummeting off buildings and doing everything else deemed too dangerous for the stars. They’re the “fall guys,” like Colt Severs (Ryan Gosling), who’s found a steady gig as the slam-bang stunt double for a world-famous action hero, Tom Ryder (Alex Taylor Johnson).

But Colt’s career is interrupted when a stunt for Tom goes catastrophically wrong. Months later, when he’s recovered and returned to work, he’s reunited on another film with Ryder—and finds himself in the middle of a missing-person mystery and a conspiracy to connect him to a crime he didn’t commit. Will Colt “take the fall” in more ways than one?

It’s a lively, wildly entertaining ride into behind-the-scenes Hollywood, full of surprises, twists and turns, super-sized action, wink-wink comedy, hissable villains and standup good guys, and an eye-popping, ever-escalating cascade of sheer cinematic chutzpah. And there’s a soft, cuddly heart in the middle of all the explosions, car crashes and fisticuffs as Colt rekindles his old flame with a camera operator turned director (Emily Blunt) struggling to finish her first movie—a sprawling post-apocalyptic sci-fi epic—on location in Australia.

The many meta references to other movies and the film’s detailed immersion into the realm of professional stunt work comes from director David Leitch, himself a stunt performer before moving behind the camera for action-packed movies like John Wick, Atomic Blonde, Deadpool 2, Bullet Train and the Fast & Furious spinoff Hobbs & Shaw. Stay for the credits and you’ll get a look at the stunt pros who stepped in for popcorn-jostling scenes in which Reynold’s character dangles from a helicopter, gets set on fire (repeatedly), is thrown through a windshield and pilots a speedboat with his hands literally tied behind his back. (It’s a handy skill that Colt, we find out, learned to do in his first stunt job, for TV’s Miami Vice.

There are also knowing nods to the new, modern era of movie AI deepfake effects—at the roots of Hollywood’s recent acting strike—as well as prop guns (Alec Baldwin, anyone?) and the TV show on which the movie’s loosely based, the early ‘80s series starring Lee Majors as a stuntman who moonlights as a bounty hunter. (Again, stay for the credits—where you’ll also hear the theme song to the TV series, performed anew by country star Blake Shelton, and see a couple of surprise appearances.) The name of another recognizable actor pops up on a random Post-It note before the star himself later pops up on screen. Or is he a deepfake?

Ted Lasso’s Hannah Waddingham plays a pitbullish producer, Ben Knight is a bruising bad guy, and The Black Panther’s Winston Duke is one of Cole’s stunt colleagues. You’ll see the heavily tattooed Aussie actor Matuse Paz (he’s in the nightclub scene) again in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga.

Gosling and Blunt make a wonderfully matched movie couple, firing up some feisty, old-school Hollywood romcom chemistry and cheeky quippery. The music is on point too, from the recurring theme (Yungblud’s cover of KISS’s “I Was Made for Lovin’ You”) to a karaoke version of Phil Collin’s “Against All Odds,” delightfully used as a backdrop for a bruising brawl in the back of a garbage truck careening crazily out of control. You’ll love how Taylor Swift’s “All Too Well” brings Colt to tears.

As things zip and zing along, you’ll see how unicorns, prosthetic alien hands, space cowboys and a dead body in a bathtub all fit into things. I love the attack dog that only takes commands in French, and there’s more than one reference to another Tom, a real-life action superstar who—like Tom Ryder—likes to boast about how he does so many of his own stunts.          

It’s an adroitly clever and finely crafted cinematic ode to the rough-and-tumble world of the “unsung heroes” who make action look so easy—and get consistently overlooked by the Oscars, as Colt dryly notes.   

If you’re looking for a gonzo good time, crackling with star charisma, spinning around a sweetly romantic core and driven by a genuine love for what makes movies tick, buckle up for The Fall Guy. And hold onto your popcorn!

—Neil Pond