The Fall Guy

Director: David Leitch
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Emily Blunt, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Hannah Waddingham, Teresa Palmer, Stephanie Hsu, Winston Duke, Ben Knight
Running Time: 126 min.
Rating: PG-13

★★★ (out of ★★★★) 

An action comedy on steroids, The Fall Guy is so over-the-top it's almost daring you to hate it, as director and former stuntman David Leitch frequently plays with the concept of satirizing the very picture he's making. Somewhere, Michael Bay is fuming his potential dream project got away, even if he'd probably struggle balancing its odd sensibilities, quirky humor and peripheral love story. To be fair, Leich sometimes wrestles with it, but he and writer Drew Pearce keep chipping away and succeed, even amidst all the craziness. 

Carried by Ryan Gosling, who's rarely been cooler, it plays like a fun mix of the actor's comedic turns in The Nice Guys and Barbie with his previous stuntmen outings in Drive and The Place Beyond the Pines. But despite him occupying Lee Majors' title role from the 1980's TV series, the movie does its own thing, taking only faint influences from its source to spoof modern day blockbusters. Earning laughs at the industry's expense, the script's spotty at points, but Gosling's star power and versatility more than cover. Deserving of a larger audience, this dares to be a little different, establishing itself as the big event movie that somehow slipped through the cracks.

Colt Seavers (Gosling) is a Hollywood stunt double for famous and cocky action star Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) until suffering a serious on set injury, causing him to abandon his job and camerawoman girlfriend, Jody Moreno (Emily Blunt). But while working as a parking valet at a Mexican restaurant 18 months later, he gets a call from Tom's producer, Gail Meyer (Hannah Waddingham), who convinces him to return for first time director Jody's debut film, the sci-fi epic Metalstorm. 

When Colt arrives in Sydney for the production, it's apparent Jody doesn't want him there, and as tensions persist between them, Colt's informed by Gail that Tom has mysteriously disappeared. In an effort to save Jody's first feature, Colt agrees to track the star down, only to find himself sucked into a dangerous criminal cover-up. With his life and the movie in jeopardy, he'll get closer to discovering what really happened to Tom, while still desperately pining for a reconciliation with Jody.

If Gosling seems born for this, Blunt's a shakier fit as an up-and-coming director, which sort of tracks since Jody's supposed to be a rookie filmmaker flustered by the various obstacles she faces and her conflicted feelings toward Colt. Still, it isn't always easy to buy her character as the director of a surefire bomb that resembles a embarrassing hybrid of Mad Max and Cowboys and Aliens. But even when this gets occasionally too meta for its own good, she shares a decent amount of chemistry with Gosling, which is what matters here. 

After an inventive opening title sequence, we're asked to immediately invest in Colt and Jody, but the bickering plays better once the main narrative kicks in and their relationship is fleshed out a little more. Viewers may have to get past the idea of anyone resuming their stunt career after such a devastating injury, but the plot's big set-up works, especially when it results in thrilling set pieces like a chaotic apartment shoot-out and a high speed garbage truck chase through Sydney's streets.

While there are a few twists and turns, funny inside references, Colt crying to Taylor Swift songs, and a clever use of split screen, Leitch leaves his most elaborate sequence for last. To say this finishes strong is an understatement, and if it's Gosling's film throughout, there are still some lively supporting performances from Johnson, Stephanie Hsu as Tom's personal assistant, Winston Duke as Colt's stunt coordinator and the unrecognizable Waddingham, who really goes for it in giant glasses and a wig as this big shot producer. 

Containing all the ingredients required for a massive hit, you still have to wonder if prospective viewers confused about its intentions decided that just sitting this one out was safer. Full of wacky characters and eye-popping action, it's all over the place, but deliriously entertaining as a result. Some have called it a love letter to stunt performers, and even if that compliment conveys a sincerity the film's trying to lampoon, they're not wrong. Among The Fall Guy's charms is how heavily it relies on practical effects and real stunt work, possibly taking more inspiration from the original series than it's gotten credit for.