Directed by: David Leitch
Written by: Drew Pearce and Glen A. Larson

Hot off the heels of his role in Barbie and noteworthy Oscar performance earlier this year, Ryan Gosling continues his hot streak of film performances. Director David Leitch, best known for his incredible action films like John Wick, Deadpool 2, and Atomic Blonde, is again delivering great stunt work, which should be no surprise as he has a background in doing stunt work himself. This film feels like a great homage to stunt work and a very meta wink to a facet of filmmaking that does not get the attention it deserves from the Oscars. This film is definitely an argument for the development of a Best Stunt category. Since there were very minor issues I had with the story of this very lovable, campy, and fun action film, I will be giving this film a “Writing a Movie RIGHT” review.

Now here comes the spoilers…
The opening scenes of The Fall Guy introduce us to Colt Seavers (Ryan Gosling) and Jody Moreno (Emily Blunt) as we learn Seavers is a stuntman and his love interest, Moreno, is working as a camerawoman. During the filming of a stunt, he falls from the safety rig and ends up seriously injured. We then catch up with the protagonist several months later and see he’s no longer in the film business, has cut off his ties to Moreno, and works as a valet for a local restaurant.

One pushy and baited call from a previous producer later, and Seavers is talked into his first gig post-accident with, of course, a few twists. As he arrives in Australia, we quickly learn his ex-girlfriend is now the director of this film; the lead star has gone missing after some “bad things” happened when he got caught up with the wrong crowd, and the producer didn’t tell anyone Seavers was coming. This sets up one of the funniest scenes where Jody gets to do endless takes of a very painful stunt that Cody has to redo again and again, driving home the point of how painful the sudden break up was.

Hilarity and a wonderful balance of true film camp follow throughout the rest of the movie as Seavers works to repair the damage his abrupt leaving caused the romance with Moreno, and of course, he has to sort out the mess the producer has created for everyone and try to subsequently cover-up. Seavers, being a stuntman, gives all the credibility for his character to do the action sequences he does and to take the damages of every jump, fall, and crash. Kudos for such a brilliant idea that instantly allows the audience to suspend disbelief when it comes to the action sequences with him.

All in all, the film is a wonderful mixture of over-the-top fight scenes, explosions, and a small peek into what can make movies magical. The chemistry between Gosling and Blunt is believable and fun, and the stunt choreography is exaggerated to make a point of just how much work it truly is.

A major plus is the film is how well Gosling is able to show emotional vulnerability, and his willingness to explore emotions, even comically, on the big screen. Perhaps the best use of a Taylor Swift song on film ever. In fact, all of the song choices for this film, it is perfect.

Be sure to stick around for the credits, as they did a wonderful job pulling the curtain back on some fun meta moments, as our lead man has his own stuntmen in real life. For those who might be slightly hesitant to check out Ryan Gosling and Emma Blunt’s new film The Fall Guy let this be the heads up you need to go grab yourself some tickets and enjoy some much-needed laughs. It’s not often I’ll say it, but The Fall Guy is a film that is about as good as a movie can get. It’s not perfect, but it’s a solid Movie Done Right that brings enjoyment to its audience. It also has solid performances that I’m happy to rewatch, too.

With that, thanks for reading Writing Movie ‘WRONGS’.