Love, fire, and spicy margaritas, The Fall Guy is a full-blown blockbuster encasing a romantic comedy led by the delectable Ryan Gosling that is devoted to the heroes of film: stunt teams.

Dropping himself off of 12-story buildings for multiple takes, Colt Seavers (Ryan Gosling) has his dream job as a stuntman to one of the biggest stars, the egomaniac Tom Ryder. His dream girl, Jody Moreno (Emily Blunt), works as a camera operator capturing all the action on camera and his lips off camera. That dream comes to a literal splat when there is a mishap on one of his jumps causing him to leave behind the world of stunts and love. 

After eighteen months off, Seaver spends his days away from the movie sets and valeting cars at an El Coyote spoof. Ashamed to face his former life after the fall until a call from producer Gail Meyer brings him back to the light to save Jody’s directorial debut from crashing. Its leading man, Tom Ryder, is nowhere to be found and if he is not returned then the studio will stop Jody’s film. Arriving down under in Australia Colt is greeted by Jody’s icy exterior due to him leaving her with no explanation for his sudden disappearance. Colt gets mixed up in the seedy underworld of the Gold Coast including a corpse and a man with a leopard skin tatted head heightening the stakes to find Tom and save Jody’s movie in hopes of winning her back. All goes to plan until Seaver finds himself as a prime murder suspect now adding his name to the mix.

The Fall Guy brings the unseen heroes of movies, and stunt teams, to the forefront in a meta love letter to filmmaking. Peeling back the complexities of their work, director David Leitch allows audiences to take a look at the exoskeleton beneath the screen, specifically in the filmmaking process. Leitch, a former stuntman, uses Colt as an extension of himself as he focuses on all the action and details only a stuntman would be concerned with. It is like watching a behind-the-scenes special as a film with Leitch’s dissection of each decision that goes into completing a stunt from start to finish. One scene sees Seaver assessing the sand he is driving on while the surrounding producers tell him to just get in the car with no concern for his safety. 

Colt’s stuntman work takes itself into the real world as he applies his attention to detail trying to track down Tom. Colt is set on fire multiple times by Jody to make him suffer for leaving here, but it is in a controlled set until he is chased by some goons once again with fire surrounding him and using what he knows to safely escape. His Miami Vice Stunt Team days come to save him in an aquatic fiery twist of events that replicates a theme park show perfectly while letting viewers into the secret of their showmanship. He didn’t need to have some major training montage to make it plausible to escape his enemies, he has been training for this his whole career in stunts. Leitch adds in all the traditional stunts from blank guns to breakaway objects and it turns the film into one big playing field, which is simply delicious to watch. So many of these stunts introduced along the way culminate in a nail-biting final act that delivers and is in itself a compelling argument for why stunts need Oscars.

The entire third act of The Fall Guy is a work of art. Leitch understands how to bring all the tension to a final head allowing his script to have many payoffs and let the action do all the talking. Watching the stunt team setting up all the traps in real time for Colt to out Tom is a feat in itself. He is shining a light on the work often neglected in these huge action pieces by showing the setups that feature the logo of his real-life company 87 North. Everything so perfectly falls into place during an epic car chase backed by impressive pyro setups. The attention to detail is on full display and stunts are more than just throwing your body off a mountain for a cool shot. There is a strategy behind what they do and how they do it as these humans push their bodies to extremes to get that awe moment for audiences to lose it. 

It also has some hilarious commentary on the VFX versus practicality front for productions. Leitch’s eye for designing stunts at perfect timing speaks to the importance of practicality and how it pays off so much more. He injects action into his romantic comedy that puts everything at stake no matter what for a satisfying conclusion. The action never takes a break which keeps you locked into what he has in store. Stunt teams are designers with the ability to know how to fit the action in a frame that captures the extent of stunts on camera so the audience can feel it. Not just this car exploded but how that piece adds emotionally to the story and which angles work best to communicate that. Everything is so perfectly planned out.

The key to this film is the injected soul of vulnerability driven by star Gosling. Leith doesn’t just make this a big blockbuster but hides a story of romance and mental health awareness tucked between the explosives. Gosling has proven to audiences the last few years that he is one of the most fun actors and his recent roles have shown his comfortability in his masculinity to shed to more sensitive places. Playing Ken and a stuntman back-to-back feels like the most masculine roles Gosling could take on, but he melts them down to use as symbols to discuss expectations within society for both men and stunt people. When he is on screen it just feels like he is letting audiences know that it is okay to be yourself and embrace it.  

As Colt, he doesn’t trek into himbo territory but adds a heart to this man mainly through his relationship with Emily Blunt’s Jody. It is their magnetic connection that brings the film together. They are so deeply attracted to one another even when forces are trying to pull them apart. Leitch keeps it alive in the distance whether it’s flirty banter over walkie-talkies or a classic rom-com trick of the split screen where they feel so close but so far from one another. They can close that distance through the electric chemistry even if it is Jody berating Colt in front of the crew. His love sickness is contagious as he will do anything to win Jody back and put himself in danger just to share spicy margaritas. 

Similar to his Barbie press era, he is aware of letting others take up the space they deserve, and he uses that in the dynamic between Jody and Colt putting her as a priority. A thumbs up is synonymous with the stunt community as every time they embark on a dangerous deed, they throw up the sign and everyone on set is relieved and keeps going. Colt serves as a look into what happens when one of these people is not okay and how they can adapt and accept that. His injury put him in a dark place where no one prepped him for putting the responsibility on him to figure a way out. He knows how to deal with fire, car rolls, and jumps but not his own emotions. Ryan Gosling can tap into his emotions like no other, giving this action man a heart and soul to root him on this journey. 

Normally action films skip over having interesting characters with depth and Leitch’s script allows his star ensemble to fit into the classic Hollywood archetypes but also add in their personalities to bring these characters to life. Blunt’s Jody is a nod to fellow female action directors like Kathryn Bigelow while the arrogant Tom who claims to do his stunts is like many actors who ignore the work of people like Colt in favor of sounding tough. There is so much love for filmmaking oozing at every instance that honors the many films before it while bringing back this type of missing genre to theaters.

In the collection of love letters to film, The Fall Guy is such a joyous entry highlighting a very underappreciated craft. Leitch brings a lot of himself into this movie almost like a reflection of his years of stunt work that beautifully communicates the falls and heights of being in this profession. 

Grade: A

Oscars Prospects:
Likely: None
Should be Considered: Best Stunts

Release Date: May 3, 2024
Where to Watch: In Theaters

Jillian Chilingerian
she/her @JillianChili
Lives in LA. Loves Iced Americanos and slow burns.
Favorite Director: David Fincher
Sign: Leo