"The Fall Guy" Review: Comedy satisfies but never really excels

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Expectations were extremely high for The Fall Guy when it arrived in theaters earlier this year. Stars Emily Blunt and Ryan Gosling were fresh off the heels of their respective work in Oppenheimer and Barbie. The feature earned stellar reviews when it premiered at South by Southwest weeks before it arrived in theaters. Ultimately though, the feature didn’t perform as well as the box office as many expected it would.

However, now that the feature has arrived on Blu-Ray, it’s an opportune time to see it and judge for yourself.

Gosling stars here as Colt Seavers, a film stuntman for high-profile celebrity, Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson). When Ryder can’t complete a stunt for one of his big-budget features, Colt steps in. When the story begins, Colt is in a relationship with Jody Moreno (Blunt), a camerawoman on one of Ryder's film sets who longs to become a director. After a major stunt goes awry on a set leaving Colt in the hospital, the stuntman disappears from the business. 

Eighteen months later, Ryder’s producing partner Gail (Hannah Waddingham) recruits Colt to return to the business to serve as Ryder's stuntman on Moreno’s directorial debut.

The feature celebrates the filmmaking process and the importance of stuntmen. However, it never fully takes advantage of the idea that Colt — a well-trained stuntman — isn’t the action hero he attempts to be when he’s thrust into the middle of a devious plot. The script by Glen Larson and Drew Pearce seemingly wants to garner great laughs from Colt’s sudden prowess as a larger-than-life character but it never fully takes advantage of the concept.

Additionally, the feature’s first hour drags on with only a few laughs interspersed throughout. It’s easy to see that there are scenes here that could’ve been edited down.

It’s only in the second hour when the mystery unfolds that the story really kicks into a better gear. It’s here where the story amps up and becomes far more suspenseful and interesting. There are a few moments when the plot gears into traditional action fare (especially when Colt calls Jody during a chase scene and shares his personal feelings with him) but otherwise, the second half of the film works far better than the first one.

Director David Leitch (Deadpool 2) does a nice job directing the third-act action pieces here as Colt begins to unravel the plot against him. The final action scene here is a particular highlight as the main characters chase each other around a fictional film set. There are real stakes involved for the main characters even though there’s also a number of forgettable “goons” try to foil the protagonist’s plot.      

The Fall Guy never succeeds as fully as one would expect but it’s aided by a few great comedic moments and strong performances from the two main actors. Despite its slow first hour, there’s a lot of fun moments here, especially as the action jumps into high gear in the second hour. It’s not as great as early audiences suggested it was but it’s definitely worth a look especially for audiences who missed it when it first arrived in theaters.