MIAMI.- Do cine It is a heroic act. Leaving aside the typical complications of the average shoot (gearing dozens of people for several weeks to work under pressure, thousands or millions of dollars at stake, dealing with imponderables, etc.), there are many feature films whose success depends entirely on performance. of a staff that usually goes under the table: the stuntman. Impossible jumps, hand-to-hand fights, high-speed chases in all types of vehicles, resounding falls or complex stunts are some of the moments where they shine while being paradoxically invisible to the audience.
Although their presence is noticeable in some genres that are more physical than others (such as action, horror or comedy), every time they enter the set they put their lives at risk just to entertain us. The history of cinema is full of stuntman who have died or suffered irreversible damage doing their job (one that combines acting talent, excellent physical condition and a certain chameleon-like willingness to pass for any actor for a couple of seconds on the big screen). His work is revered by all of us who work in the industry, but it is completely unknown to the general public. Starting from this insight comes to us in movie theaters The Fall Guythe new one film by David Leitch dedicated to the trade he practiced for years (and which forever shaped his way of making films).
Based on the 80s series of the same name created by Glen A. Larson (where a stuntman works part time as a mercenary when he’s not making movies), The Fall Guy introduces us to Colt Seavers (Ryan Gosling), a stuntman who is madly in love with Jody Moreno (Emily Blunt), a camerawoman with whom he has worked on several productions. One day, during the filming of a film by the famous actor Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), Colt suffers an accident that forces him to distance himself from his profession for a time, cutting off relationships with everyone and becoming a hermit. The story begins when Gail (Hannah Waddingham), the producer he has always worked with, hires Colt to be part of his beloved Jody’s cousin opera. A project that is far from being a normal shoot and becomes a dangerous mission when our protagonist must embark on the complex task of finding the missing Tom Ryder (and on whose presence the success of the feature film and Jody’s emerging career depend).
Written by Drew Pearce (Hotel Artemis, Iron Man 3, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw), The Fall Guy It is a hybrid between romantic comedy and action told as an exercise in metafiction about the vicissitudes of filmmaking. Although Colt has all the traits of the average action hero (excellent physical condition, handsome, friendly and brave), the script takes care to remind us that he is a stuntman that he is in love and that he ends up in a completely crazy situation without intending to. Although his profession allows him to do all kinds of stunts, at the end of the day, he is a mortal like any other (as Gail tells him at one point in the story: you are not a hero, you are a stuntman and that’s why no one will notice you). As the play on words in the title of the story clearly expresses (Fall: fall in love), The Fall Guy It also puts the emphasis on the romance between Colt and Jody, alternating the action with corny moments, misunderstandings, word games and a fun dynamic of omissions where the protagonist risks his life for love.
Directed by David Leitch (Atomic Blonde, Deadpool 2, Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw, Bullet Train), the premise of The Fall Guy works as an ideal excuse to explore absolutely all the records where a stuntman: hand-to-hand fights (with all types of objects, knives), chases (by car, boat, helicopter), shootouts, explosions, falls from all types of heights (and landings on any type of surface), cars that go around in circles. the air, trained dogs, objects and furniture that are destroyed, etc. The big difference with other of his productions is marked by the tone of comedy and self-awareness that underlies each scene, which allows Leitch to play with the characters in unlikely and convoluted situations where they do incredible acrobatics but without being stylized as we are used to seeing. in this genre. The result is action sequences that feel deeply organic and improvised in an environment where everything is perfectly calculated (emulating the unintentional comedy tone of Jackie Chan’s best moments). At the same time, his director gives us an x-ray of the set, exploring the dynamics between the crew and the cast, humanizing all film workers and demystifying that glamor that people believe exists in every filming.
Continuing with the technical section, cinematography Jonathan Sela (Bullet Train, The Lost City, Deadpool 2, Atomic Blonde, John Wick, Limitless, Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw) shows his versatility in constructing different types of aesthetics over the course of the feature film. From creating an imprint of sci-fi (with hints to other stories mainstream) within the film that Jody is shooting, until jumping on the same set to the aesthetics of romantic comedy mixed with the rawness of a film shoot.
At the same time, it has aesthetically beautiful moments such as the sequence in the nightclub or the entire last act where it knows how to maintain the quality of the film but without taking away the verisimilitude of what is supposed to happen behind the camera. Elsabet Ronaldsdttir’s montage (Bullet Train, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Deadpool 2, Atomic Blonde) is not only dynamic as expected of any action film: it also builds different types of rhythm, such as when we are immersed in the fiction of the shoot (which has a peak tempo of Hollywood blockbuster production) and it takes us out suddenly with a cut. to the reality of the set (where everything is more stressful and less glamorous). At the same time, it creates fairly clear lines between romantic comedy (building the calm when Jody and Colt are together) and action (when it throws us suddenly into the secret mission the protagonist is on). Lastly, and most importantly, Ronaldsdttir knows how and when to cut to highlight the violence of certain fights with editing and when to let the stuntmen shine without losing the coherence between the internal and external rhythm of the story.
Beyond its impeccable technical work, as in any romantic comedy worth its salt, the couple is the main attraction of everything. The chemistry that Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt build is on par with any classic of the genre, going from love to hate and vice versa through physical humor and jokes that captivate us. Aaron Taylor-Johnson, although he has few appearances, steals the show with his extravagance, arrogance and paying homage to those antagonists and famous histrionic actors that it is impossible not to detest. Hannah Waddingham is on point and in a very different register than the one we have enjoyed from her in Ted Lasso, her character is the one who has the most violent dramatic arc, going from a neurotic and kind producer to, progressively, showing the darkness of it. Stephanie Hsu and Winston Duke bring the typical secondary characters to life with fun interventions, but they are so punctual that we end up wanting to see them more on screen.
The Fall Guy 2.
Cortesa/H+M Communications
The Fall Guy It’s one of those movies feel good that are so needed on the billboard. Her script, halfway between romance naive and action film, uses self-awareness to show us the skeleton of a shoot and put the focus on a high-risk profession that has always been and will always be key in the history of the seventh art. For the general public it will be like a glimpse into the magical world of a movie set and for those of us who work in the industry it serves as a reminder about the importance of honoring the work of stuntmen. Using love and comedy as a pretext, The Fall Guy reminds us that the true heroes within a set are not the protagonists of fiction, but those professionals who, hidden in the shadow of a cut, a camera movement or a certain shot value, articulate the myths of the great characters that we we praise on the big screen. A profession that, like Colt’s quest for Jody, can only be done for love.
The best: its amazing action sequences where its director explores absolutely every aspect of a man’s life. stuntman. Its self-aware humor and its mix of action and romance. The chemistry between Emily Blunt and Ryan Gosling. The madness of the third act.
The bad: the premise and development of the script is a tribute to the Sunday cinema of the 80s, which could disorient those who are not used to this type of codes. We are even more looking forward to seeing Stephanie Hsu and Winston Duke showing off.
The Fall Guy 3
Cortesa/H+M Communications
About the Author
Luis Bond is a director, screenwriter, editor and teacher. Since 2010 he has dedicated himself to film criticism on the web, radio and in print publications. He is Tomatometer-approved critic in Rotten Tomatoes. His training in cinema has been complemented by studies in deep analytical psychology and symbolism.
Twitter (X), Instagram, Threads, TikTok: @luisbond009
Web: www.luisbond.com
