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| Images courtesy Universal Pictures |
Ryan Gosling is back behind the wheel in the latest '80s relaunch, The Fall Guy. The update of the classic Lee Majors series brings the show into the present with stuntman Colt Seavers fighting would be bad guys, doing his damnedest to survive a series of death defying car crashes, boat sequences, and daring jumps with one swooning Emily Blunt playing his significant love interest with a heart of gold.
The film skips over the bounty hunting premise of the original and trades it for a more action-centric focus that lets Gosling continue to play further into the types of roles he's been centered on for the last several years. Setting aside the darker, more understated or refined roles like that of Drive, Gosling carries a movie that may have suffered under the lead of a less talented actor. His humor and charisma is on fire here, bringing some great sensibilities to a character that's cut out for him. He doesn't repeat his Barbie part, but instead hams it up in a totally different way.
The plot here is extremely basic and isn't striving for creativity whatsoever. As a pure throwback to '90s style action comedies, The Fall Guy serves the purpose of filling a void in the early spring release schedule. It doesn't do anything new with the genre but plays with action tropes and a perfected timing between its two leads, Gosling and Blunt. This is a bit of escapist fun that definitely drags on too long, clocking in at nearly two hours, which honestly wears out its welcome despite some rad action scenes and some repetitious musical cues.
Breaking away from the constant stream of big budget franchise properties that seem to inhabit the cinematic landscape, The Fall Guy is a love letter to the men and women that make our movies and perform daring acts on the screen. Plot wise there isn't much to chew on, but the old school story style and pacing will hit the right notes for those of us that remember those '80s/'90s action spectacles that hit the cinemas every week.
Director David Leitch is right at home delivering a brainless flick that doesn't take itself too seriously and makes amazing comedic use of the vastly underrated Aaron Taylor-Johnson. This dude is a spectacle here, proving that he may just be the right choice as the next James Bond. His comic timing paired against Gosling is one of the better things of 2024 and is a highlight of a film that may be baseline in the story department but knows its audience very well. This is really what the term popcorn movie means.
The Fall Guy has a silly premise and outlandish characters that just seem to fit in to this world. If you're looking for something goofy with some cool car scenes and fight sequences, check it out. Go in expecting little and come out satisfied.
-CG