The Fall Guy doesn’t have much of a plot, but it works as a satire. It’s an action movie making fun of action movies with endless stunts, explosions, rolling cars, high speed fights, and open door helicopter fights. Don’t forget the romance! Can’t leave that out.
I thought The Fall Guy was a lot of fun. Everything about it is a joke. The stunts, the pop culture references, the music choices, the action scenes and the goofy romance were all as wild and ridiculous as possible. Poking fun at action movies requires a lot of special effects and wild stunts.
Colt (Ryan Gosling) is the stunt man for famous movie star Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson). He’s in love with the assistant director on the movie, Jody (Emily Brunt).
Colt breaks his back in an accident on the set. He’s out of commission for a long time. He loses touch with Jody.
Tom Ryder’s agent, Gail (Hannah Waddingham) finds Colt working as a valet. She tells him Jody, who is now director of her own action movie, wants him to come back and do stunts for Tom. Since he’s not over Jody, he goes. He’s hoping they can rekindle the flame.
It turns out Jody didn’t ask for him and she’s mad about the many months of ghosting that he subjected her to. In a very funny conversation conducted by megaphone, she lets Colt and everyone of the set know how upset she is.
Okay. If Jody didn’t actually ask him to be in the film, what is going on? It turns out Tom is in trouble and Gail has ideas of her own about how to save him by making Colt a literal fall guy.
I watched The Fall Guy on Peacock. Peacock has the theater version and the extended cut version with 20 more minutes of action. I went to for the extended cut and was never bored.
I enjoyed the humor and the tropes that made fun of tropes. The character of Jody’s assistant Alma (Stephanie Hsu) had the best line in the whole movie near the end when she made a crucial phone call. I enjoyed Winston Duke as the stunt coordinator. I loved the split screen credits showing how some of the film’s stunts were done. (Be sure to watch all the way to the end.)
In summary, the film is noisy, explosive fun wrapped up in every movie trope ever invented. In case you don’t use Peacock, you can rent the film on Prime Video.
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i dont understand why this movie wasnt successful in the theaters. it was a lot of fun. it even had the cameos one would expect. its not a movie that asks too much of its audience and the actors are all amiable and clearly enjoying their roles. it was a hoot.
I don’t either. It’s not like an action movie is supposed to be great art. Pure escapism from start to finish.