The Fall Guy review – Ryan Gosling fails to fly in vacuous stuntman action comedy | Action and adventure films

Llike the ’80s TV show starring Lee Majors on which this bombastic action comedy is based, The Fall Guy is presented as a celebration of the work of the stunt crew: the unknown men and women who take the risks on set so the stars can take the credit. But really, the film falls into the same pitfalls as any other enthusiastically pyrotechnic, action-heavy extravaganza: the sheer volume of stunt sequences means that the skills on display begin to lose all meaning. Individually, the footage of a small figure hanging from a damaged, spinning, malfunctioning helicopter is impressive. But the relentless pace at which director (and former stuntman) David Leitch (High speed train) works through its ostentatious action checklist, which means everything becomes empty noise; glasses strung together by a giddy, slapstick script that feels like it’s taken a few too many blows to the head.

Ryan Gosling is curiously half-baked as Colt Sievers, a top stunt pro whose career and burgeoning romance are derailed by a broken back from a botched fall. Now Jodi (Emily Blunt), the ex-girlfriend he ghosted after the accident, directed her first film (an absolutely shocking-looking sci-fi western titled Metal Storm). And Colt is tempted to come out of retirement at her express request. Except she didn’t ask for it and wants nothing more to do with it. Meanwhile, the film’s star Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) is missing and the fate of Jodie’s debut hangs in the balance. It’s up to Colt to do the best job—he’s repeatedly kicked in the face, set on fire, and shot at—in the name of bad art. Which I guess pretty much sums up the stuntman paradox.