The Fall Guy: Falling Down but Not Out

The Fall Guy is all about falling down but not out. Based on the television show of the same name starring Lee Majors, fans and critics alike love this film. The box office, rather oddly, does not reflect all this love for the film. Perhaps, now that the film is available for streaming, those gross worldwide profits will exceed those production costs.

It could well be down to demographics. Folks who remember the ’80s TV show are not the ones willing to put down some long green for a movie version. Despite the onscreen chemistry between Gosling and Blunt, the 18 to 29 year old group do not have the nostalgic connection that we old folks have for the original The Fall Guy series. It is up to home entertainment to make up for the box office loss. It may well succeed in turning a profit.

Time will tell.

The Story

Colt Seavers (Ryan Gosling) is on a high. He loves his job and loves Jody (Emily Blunt). But then a falling stunt goes badly and Colt loses it all. Film producer Gail (Hannah Waddingham) rings Colt to offer him a gig in Australia; working for Jody. During his time in the land down under, murder, mayhem, drugs, comedy and romance are on tap for Colt. There are also some record breaking stunts.

Rambling

The film works, for whatever that is worth considering the box office slump, and everything fits together well. Director (David Leitch) pretty much rocks The Fall Guy. He pieces everything together with the aid of Editor Elísabet Ronaldsdóttir and all the scenes blend beautifully.

The Fall Guy series creator; the late Glen A. Larson, came up with an almost perfect formula telling stories about those heroes behind the scenes, the stuntman. The film version does not fall down in working the old series into a 126 minute film. Of course, the length of this film may well be another reason it “bombed” at the box office.

Too Much Too Long

The Fall Guy works hard to include a lot of business in each frame. There are Easter eggs galore. They even manage to include the “effects music” from The Six Million Dollar Man in the apartment fight scene. The stunts?

Phenomenal.

However. There are perhaps too many. The Fall Guy packs a lot of punch but this results in a movie that is too long for its premise. The film is a massive love letter to the Stunt industry. But when I watched it via the internet, I found myself, not getting bored, but losing interest. Around about the middle of the film I needed a break from the whole thing.

The Third Act

Unlike The Fall Guy having issues with the Metalstorm third act, the movie itself puts everything together brilliantly. It is the second act that, for all intents and purposes, that let the side down abit.

This stunt focused film does come through though. Despite being overly long and wandering a bit in the middle, this film wins a full 5 stars for sheer determination. A movie that celebrates the “working man” heroes who do all the hard things in a film.

The Fall Guy is a win for all concerned. Check out the trailer below. It is still running in cinemas and you can purchase/rent the film online. (Online purchases includes a bonus version of the movie.)

PS: If you want to see the work that went into the spectacular stunts in this film, head over to Peacock and catch their ode to the Stuntman.

#OscarforStunts

The Trailer