I came to The Fall Guy (2024) completely ignorant of the television show on which it’s based. Instead I entered this specific movie going experience armed with only my admiration for the frontman of Dead Man’s Bones. Luckily Ryan Gosling’s charms proved enough to sustain this uneven picture. For me, The Fall Guy worked best in the scenes between Gosling and Emily Blunt.
The Fall Guy really should have stuck with the romantic comedy angle. It should have focused exclusively on the relationship between stuntman (Gosling) and director (Blunt) as they navigate a messy romantic entanglement while making a movie. It’s here that The Fall Guy shined as both drama and comedy. For as sexy as Emily Blunt is and as buff as Mr Gosling can be, I was never interested in them as action stars.
Yet, action is the name of the game for the bulk of The Fall Guy. Here is where the plot is muddied and the choreography mundane. The action in The Fall Guy works as spectacle only when juxtaposed with Emily Blunt singing. Otherwise these set pieces feel like every other action-comedy coming down the pike.
It’s really starting to feel like director David Leitch can only manage half a good movie at a time. The Fall Guy is great literally 50% of the time and so is Atomic Blonde (2017) and maybe Deadpool 2 (2018). Leitch just can’t stick the landing a deliver a film that is consistent throughout. Maybe the inevitable sequel to The Fall Guy will be even better and dispense with all the action entirely.
