The Fall Guy

The fall guy

Tom Cruise jumps off a cliff and parachutes. Twice. For a man who has criticised non-maskers on the set of the same film, given how everyone needs him for this film, it’s hard watching Simon Pegg’s reaction..especially as he does it again. David Holmes was left paralysed at 25; he was Harry Potter’s stunt double. As I type this, I have his podcast’s cunning stunts behind me. It’s the first time I’ve heard of it. He’s paralysed, but his voice and tone show an utter thumbs up for the stunt community. In a world of CGi and Ai looming in the background, I wonder if it’s worth the price and risk. But then I feel the same about boxing and MMA. It will happen with or without me.

The Fall Guy is a formulaic story on one level, but just a joyously crafted piece to both stunt work and the film industry as an ode beat to beat. Frankly, Ryan Gosling has done a great deal to make me give shit for the handsome blonde male community who would have me checking texts or kicking the chair in front until Loki came back. But he works excellently, and it’s the only way in which we could see a man like him could be the backup with all the skills he does have that make sense as a stuntman. He rolls with the punches, kicks and shots with grace. He is a fire man using his skills. His love of cinema is second only to the love of his life. It works; it has context. It’s nowhere near as complicated as Ladybug from Bullet Train, but by dint, it is far more accessible.

However, Emily Blunt’s Jody is not the co-star the advertising implies. At the same time, she has great moments and knows how to deliver the character with great aplomb. We get tiny, or instead, she gets little in the film aside as motivation, still more than a sexy lamp post, but her role is inundated with references to the director’s jail and getting Hall H. 

But the chemistry and comic timing breaks are there. And frankly, we are here for action, which you get. It’s impactful, and I did the sock wince and gasp at points. Hannah Waddingham plays the producer, showing the dry humour that is going to make her a British institution within the next five years, together with Eurovision.

It’s a fun romp; it gives the right level of layers to a contemporary action flick while having layers of mystery without being convoluted. That is a delicate balance in the film world of cgi fisting gems and multival tendrillic streaming universes.

I think it’s the film Death Proof should have been. It’s the film Tarantino implied and the film you can have…you know what’s. Its gladiators. Not the film, the TV show. The cast is new, but it’s fucking gladiators; you loved gladiators, and your kids do now too.

I do hope they don’t do Fall Guy 2, though. I think it’s one-and-done because the story is so well played. Anything else would be a bit… Fall Guy in Space. I mean actual space. 

So check it out and chill with refined craft. I got a lot out of the big screen. But it is driven and waits for the second gear on stream. But catch it for that warm, classic action while not being unoriginal. 

Oh, and the dog is excellent.