The Fall Guy (2024) Movie Review: Ryan Gosling’s Charisma Saves the Day in a Patchy Love Letter to the Stunt Professionals 

Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt have a fantastic comedic rapport. It became evident during their time at the 2024 Oscars, where they bounced off their dialogues with utmost ease. The same rapport is one of the strengths in David Leitch’s “The Fall Guy.” Based on numerous articles about this film, we have already learned that it is a letter of love and admiration toward the stunt community working tirelessly to make cinema entertaining. For the same purpose, it puts a stunt performer at the center of its narrative. Oftentimes, these professionals get ignored for their artistic input to the big screen-worthy entertainment. 

As aforementioned, the film follows a Hollywood stunt performer – Colt Seavers (played by Gosling). During his collaborations with camera operator Jody Moreno (played by Emily Blunt), he falls for her, and they get into a relationship. But during one of their shoots, he gets injured by circumstances beyond his control. He gets so consumed with fear, shame, and embarrassment that he suddenly cuts ties with the film industry. Not only that, he changes his contact details and also ghosts Jody. For the time being, he starts working as a valet. 

However, a few months later, Colt gets another working opportunity through film producer Gail Meyer (played by Hannah Waddingham). Colt isn’t interested in the job until he learns that it is Jody’s directorial feature debut. He knows that she always aspired to be a director and to bring her passion project to life. Besides, Gail says Jody wants him to work with her. So, despite his inhibitions, he decides to work on this project. 

Once Colt gets on the set, things start to go off the rail for one or the other reason. As a stunt performer, he is still as skillful as before. But he hits some bumps along the way – be it due to a share of misunderstandings, lack of communication, or low confidence. Drew Pearce’s screenplay explores these hiccups through humor married with bits of romance. For a while, the film feels like a romantic comedy between its two leads, where stunts are just a crucial part of their lives. 

Fresh out of their supporting acting nods at the Oscars, Gosling and Blunt are predictably reliable as the leads. Both have fantastic comedic timing and know how to perform them well. On top of that, both are charming and have natural charisma. So, even the film’s romantic scenes, oftentimes peppered with a Taylor Swift track, can convince us of their longing for each other.  

Yet, the film also has its share of issues. Recently, at a promotional event, Gosling joked that ‘‘The Fall Guy’ is just a giant campaign to get stunts an Oscar.’ While watching the film, I couldn’t agree more! I know he meant it as a joke, but the film does come across more as a showcase reel for stunt work than a character-driven drama. Of course, the stunts look exceptional and are performed with finesse, but the romance drama feels undercooked, which relies more so on Gosling and Blunt’s impeccable skills and Taylor Swift’s enormous popularity and soulful vocals. 

On the writing front, the characters are not nearly as fleshed out, especially Blunt’s. She feels like a placeholder for a female-director character and is limited to its archetype. Her character is not developed enough to convince us of her drive to be a director, beyond characters explicitly saying how much she wanted to be one. Gosling’s character works because of the film’s central idea – a stunt professional being a ‘Fall Guy.’ He has a fantastic screen presence. So, he seems utterly believable even in the film’s outlandish scenes. 

Unlike Leitch’s earlier works like “Atomic Blonde” or “Bullet Train,” this film is filled with bright, fresh, popping colors. Visually, it is designed more like a blockbuster comedy than a slick, gritty thriller. On that front, “The Fall Guy” is every bit of a summer blockbuster you can hope for. It is flashy and flamboyant, which works in its favor. However, if I want a comedic action thriller with Ryan Gosling, “The Nice Guys” is a far more consistent film. “The Fall Guy” has a different scale and has more bombastic action sequences. But it is too patchy. 

“The Fall Guy” falters because it spends too much time on its wacky subplots, making the film inconsistent in its overall impact. Of course, you can enjoy it even when too many things are happening on the screen. But the occasional breathing spaces between stunts don’t seem well calculated. The relentlessness could have been neater and less messy than what we get to see. 

Read More: Where can I watch and stream the new action comedy movie ‘The Fall Guy,’ starring Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt?

The Fall Guy (2024) Movie Links: IMDb, Wikipedia, Rotten Tomatoes
The Fall Guy (2024) Movie Cast: Ryan Gosling, Emily Blunt, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Hannah Waddingham, Teresa Palmer, Stephanie Hsu, Winston Duke

Where to watch The Fall Guy