The Fall Guy - Movie Review

The Movie: The Fall Guy

The Director: David Leitch

The Cast: Ryan Gosling, Emily Blunt, Winston Duke, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Hannah Waddingham, Stephanie Hsu

The Story: A down-and-out stuntman must find the missing star of his ex-girlfriend's blockbuster film.

The Rating: 8 / 10

The Review:

Okay, so ever since the first trailer for this movie came out, it's been one of my most looked forward to films of the year and it pretty much paid off everything I was hoping it would be. The whole thing just has a really fun energy, the action is pretty intense and worthy of being an homage to stunt people, and the chemistry between Ryan Gosling and Emily blunt is everything you would want from a Hollywood romance. Will this be a critically acclaimed "masterpiece"? Of course not, the intent with this story is just to have a lot of fun at the movie thrater with a bit of nostalgia thrown in for good measure.

If you didn't know, The Fall Guy was a popular TV show in the 1980's that featured Lee Majors in the lead role as a stunt man who moonlights as a bounty hunter. Majors was a huge TV star back then and his adventures were considered must see TV for that generation's viewing audience. Fast forward to today and Ryan Gosling is one of the biggest movie stars of our time mostly tbanks to a style and charisma that is very similar to what made Majors such an iconic figure during his time.

Pairing Gosling up with Emily Blunt was a no brainer as the two are both insanely beautiful people who would be at or near the top of just about anyone's Holywood favorites list and the two are genuinely great actors as well. Their chemistry is one of the more entertaining aspects of the film as the duo is constantly sparring over their previous failed relationship and whether or not they should give it another shot. I would love to see more of this dynamic in future installments of what could be a pretty solid franchise if given the opportunity.

As I mentioned, this movie is an impressively effective homage to all the stunt workers in the industry so of course the action is top notch all the way through. Director David Leitch is a former stuntman and stunt coordinator and his efforts have translated really well on his previous efforts in the director's chair including Atomic Blonde, Deadpool 2, and Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw. The man definitely knows how to put together some great action set pieces and I also noticed a couple extended take scenes, one of my favorite filming techniques, or "oners" as they are referred to behind the scenes. I've explained it before in other reviews so just look it up if you don't know what that is.

One thing I will say to help you properly prepare for watching this movie is please don't expect intricate, thought provoking plot lines or any kind of heavy, emotional drama mixed in, this experience is all about having fun. If you watched 80's TV shows like The Fall Guy or The A-Team or movies starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Burt Reynolds, then you will definitely appreciate what this story has to offer. Are there plot holes? Yes. Are there head scratching moments? Of course. Is the movie a pop corn munching, soda sipping, laughing and cheering good time. Abolutely!