Movie: The Fall Guy

It comes as no surprise to discover director of The Fall Guy, Glen A Larson, is a former movie stunt man.

The high-octane, action-packed romantic comedy is in many ways a love letter to the often unappreciated work of stunt men and women.  And, as The Fall Guy shows, it is at times death-defying work.

Based on the television series of the same name from the 1980s, The Fall Guy tells of stunt man Colt Seavers (Ryan Gosling) who, when we first meet him, is loving life. He’s at the top of his game, being the stunt double for the egotistical, self absorbed  super-star action actor Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) for the last six years.

Colt loves his work and Jody Moreno (Emily Blunt), a camera operator working on his and Tom’s latest movie.

When a stunt goes horribly wrong resulting in Colt breaking his back, he leaves the movie industry and Jody and embarks on an unfulfilling life parking cars at a restaurant.

A phone call 18 months after his accident from Gail Meyer (Hannah Waddingham), the producer he has worked with for a number of years, changes this.

Jody is now directing her first movie Metalstorm , a multi million dollar sci-fi fantasy starring Tom as a space cowboy in love with an alien. The movie is being shot in Sydney and features numerous demanding and dangerous chase and battle scenes.

Ryder’s stunt double has gone missing and his loss is threatening the movie’s future. And more importantly for Colt, according to Meyer, Jody wants him on the set. Still in love with Jody and feeling guilty about his treatment of her after the accident, Colt jumps on a plane to save the day.

On arriving in Sydney Colt quickly discovers Gail has been lying to him.  In one of the movie’s many humorous scenes we discover Jody didn’t request Colt’s appearance and is not happy to see him.  As everyone on the movie set quickly realises she’s still rather peeved he cut off all ties after the accident. They discover this through a conversation conducted over loud speakers and then a very dangerous stunt which Jody insists Colt does over and over again.

Gail then informs Colt that Ryder is missing and that if he’s not found Metalstorm will fold thus ruining Jody’s career.

Reluctantly Colt agrees to search for Ryder resulting in numerous action-filled life threatening incidents including a fight in a garbage truck on Sydney Harbour Bridge (a stunt which made headlines around Australia during filming), a fiery explosion on Sydney Harbour and a major confrontation in a swirling helicopter.

As well as surviving numerous attempts on his life, Colt also has to deal with a false murder charge.

With the help of stunt co-ordinator Dan (Winston Duke) and Ryder’s personal assistant Alma Milan (Stephanie Hsu), Colt eventually gets to bottom of the mystery behind Ryder’s disappearance.

While there’s no doubting the spectacular nature of the many stunts in The Fall Guy, the movie is far more than just a series of explosions, car chases and other remarkably dangerous looking scenes. It’s also a love story with plenty of laughs thanks to the work of Gosling and Blunt.

There’s a palpable chemistry between the two and The Fall Guy gives both the opportunity to show their comic and romantic credentials. Gosling’s charisma and good looks are also very much on show.

The performance of its stars, the often humorous dialogue and visual gags, the spectacular stunts and the unexpected twists and turns (a couple of major ones which occur after the movie has seemingly ended and before the final credits) ensure The Fall Guy provides a fun two hours at the cinema.

The Fall Guy opens in Australian cinemas on April 24.

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