In watching The Fall Guy, you may notice that the song “I Was Made for Lovin’ You” by Kiss is effectively the theme music for our protagonist Colt Seavers, played by Ryan Gosling. Directed by long time stunt professional David Leitch, this film is brimming with so much of that loving energy that Kiss sings about. It’s an earnest tribute to the often-overlooked stunt community behind-the-scenes, and the rom-com dynamic between co-stars Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt is developed as fully as the lovingly crafted action set pieces. Simply put, this is a movie that loves movies and loves love.
Adapted from the 1980s TV series created by Glen Larson and starring Lee Majors, this cinematic iteration of The Fall Guy is so successful in large part thanks to the work from screenwriter Drew Pearce. All of the central conflicts of the narrative are intrinsically connected. Colt Seavers has fallen from grace as the best stuntman in the business after an on-set accident. He is now a broken man, spiritually and physically, faced with mounting odds on a quest to win back the love of his life, Jody Moreno (Blunt). Colt is trying to help Jody complete production on her blockbuster directorial debut Metalstorm in the absence of the movie’s star Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), who has mysteriously gone missing. At the same time, Colt is secretly tasked by Metalstorm producer Gail Meyer (Hannah Waddingham) to investigate the disappearance of Tom and bring him back to set.
Colt’s journey to untangle the web of this series of unfortunate events is counterintuitive. He may make progress in one area and make a critical discovery in the case of Tom Ryder, but it is at the expense of his rekindling romance with Jody and the production of Metalstorm. As a protagonist, Colt Seavers is easy to root for because he makes so many sacrifices in silence, which perfectly describes the life of a stuntman in a nutshell. His character’s journey is essentially a commentary on the experiences of these below-the-line filmmaking warriors.
There is one particular sequence that represents the peak convergence of these conflicts. The Colt and Jody relationship is on the verge of returning to its former glory, but just before it can reach that point, a major development in the Tom Ryder case leads to a massive set piece that you’ve seen in the trailers. Colt is hanging on for dear life on the back of a truck bed that is skidding across the asphalt in a high-speed chase. And in this moment as the audience, with Colt’s life literally hanging in the balance, we realize that the line between his survival and the love story has blurred. Even if he escapes with his life, how can we stand the pain if he loses his love? In this film, the romance is just as adrenaline-fueled as the action.As a movie about making movies, The Fall Guy is chock full of references for general audiences and hardcore movie buffs alike. While there are some inside baseball bits here and there, it is never at the expense of the audience at large. From quoting Rocky and The Last of the Mohicans, nods to Miami Vice and Memento, and a full-on Dune parody sequence, The Fall Guy was obviously made for cinephiles by cinephiles. It’s a jolly good time at the picture house, complete with narratively significant Taylor Swift and Phil Collins needle-drops. Gosling and Blunt are bona-fide movie stars exuding charisma to new heights, and stunt artists are finally getting their time in the sun. With the call for a stunts category at the Oscars growing louder by the day, perhaps the tune of this cinematic love song to the stunt community will be heard by the Academy.
Featured Photo Courtesy of Universal Pictures