It’s unlikely that there was a massive clamour for a 21st-century reboot of The Fall Guy, an affable but largely forgotten 1980s TV series starring Lee (Six Million Dollar Man) Majors as stunt performer Colt Seavers. But Hollywood is never minded to allow even the most unlikely and unrecognisable franchise to rest in peace, so here it comes again, exhumed and dusted down for a modern audience. Ryan Gosling takes on the role of Seavers in a film that’s largely unconnected to even the broad spirit of the series that inspired it. Gosling’s Colt is the stunt double for egotistical action actor Tom Rider (Aaron Taylor-Johnson). He finds himself press-ganged back into service following a nasty on-set accident by pushy producer Gail Meyer (Hannah Waddingham), only to find that his ex-squeeze Jodey Moreno (Emily Blunt) has, miraculously, been promoted from junior camera operator to the director of a multi-million dollar sci-fi epic entitled Metalstorm and starring Tom Rider. Their blossoming relationship fell apart after his accident, and she really doesn’t want him on her set. When Tom goes missing after getting involved in drugs, Gail asks Colt to track him down before the film is compromised or, worse, canned. Colt reluctantly agrees, and the film kicks into high gear with a number of fight scenes, stunning practical stunt sequences, and a plot that involves duplicity, double-crossing, and a few good gags.
Predominantly a love letter to the often taken-for-granted art of the stuntman, The Fall Guy is a flawed but fun first salvo in 2024’s summer blockbuster season. A slightly sluggish first act leads into the action-packed meat of a film that’s powered by the irresistible on-screen chemistry between Gosling and Blunt and let down only slightly by a script that’s weaker than it ought to be thanks to glib dialogue that tries to be funny but ends up slightly tiresome. But The Fall Guy picks up momentum as it goes along in the wake of some genuinely terrific set pieces (a sequence on the water in the shadow of the Sydney Opera House is stunning). If, ultimately, the whole thing feels as if it’s less than the sum of its parts, it’s kept alive by vivid, lively performances from the leads and muscular action. Stick around for nostalgic cameos mid-credits.
