The Fallen Guy, or How I Wasted $20.00 at Walmart
Don’t tell me you actually liked this film…
After skipping several movies this year that looked promising, but turned out to be world-class turkeys, I had high hopes for “The Fall Guy.” Never a fan of the cheesy Lee Majors television series from the 1980s, I was excited to see someone improve on its premise, delivering an action film that would transport me to a fun, exciting, and possibly deadly place for a couple of hours.
After all, that’s the reason most of us watch films, right? To escape reality, the way some folks hit the golf course, or collect stamps, or binge-watch The Brady Bunch. Well, maybe not that last option, but whatever…
So, I score a copy of The Fall Guy film, rev up the Blue Ray, and retreat to my recliner. And for the first few minutes, all is well. There’re stuntman Colt (played by Gosling) and assistant-to-the-director Jody (Emily Blunt) in scenes that establish a comedic tone via their budding romance, while working together on a film set.
And then things ramp up with an accident, where Colt nearly dies during a stunt man scene. Drama and mystery have worked their way into the story. Fine. It’s worked before, namely on a previous Leitch-directed effort, with “Hobbs and Shaw.” We’re with Colt as he recovers, having taken on a job at a restaurant- a break from work that almost killed him, while he tries to sort out what’s left of his life.
Hired by Gail to work again with Jody- now directing her first film- it’s Colt’s chance to mend his relationship with the former girlfriend, as the two are now estranged- the first of many unexplained and/or implausible events that will plague this film.
And it’s while Colt is performing a risky stunt for Jody- now a director in her first feature film- that the first big misstep occurs. Exposition fights with action for equal time on the screen. While everyone- including the audience- waits impatiently, Jody and Colt banter back and forth about scripted dialogue symbolizing their dysfunctional relationship.
Time stops. The comedy stops. Action is forestalled so we can see how much they truly care for each other. Which is when I start fidgeting. Something is amiss. But I shrug it off as a momentary lapse in Leitch’s judgment; it will surely pass, for this is an action film- or is it a rom-com? What exactly am I watching?
The action does return. But not for long. It’s as if I’m in a car where the driver has one foot on the gas pedal, the other on the brakes. Colt performs another dangerous stunt and survives it, but the comedic reactions that should result as he crawls from the wreckage are minimal, another example of Colt stomping on the emotional brakes so that he and Jody will have time for yet more blather. After all, this isn't screwball comedy; there has to be equal time for romance. And drama. And action…
And it’s the emphasis on equal time that ultimately kills this film.
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There’s an effective action sequence in Ryder’s home, but it’s too frenetic. Worse, it ends with a truce between Gosling and his attacker: thus equal time (or should I say, balance) between fighting and camaraderie, not to mention annoying background music that distracts from the action, now and in nearly every subsequent scene.
The fight in the nightclub is well done and uninterrupted, the special effects quite striking. But later, what should be an outrageous set piece- with Gosling and bad guys fighting on board a runaway truck- is intercut with Blunt singing a sappy karaoke tune, and for way too long. Does Leitch understand how to balance action with romance and drama, or does he just not care?
The story and pace further struggle due to the scattered insertion of thirty-six minor characters who aren’t up to the task of acting or delivering lines in a convincing fashion; thanks to manic editing, they fill up space and time, much like villainess Gail, whose over-the-top histrionics induce cringe more than menace. But Leitch must have balance- in this case a villain and a villainess, neither of whom are guilty of much more than being annoying, even if one of them did arrange Gosling’s initial accident.
Said intrusion of minor characters clutters and distracts- stunt people, makeup artists, and detonation experts, to name a few- making me suspect that Leitch had a lot of friends he wanted to include (or felt driven to, by SAG requirements or some self-imposed DEI edict) in what amounted to a lot of throwaway parts.
There’s Gosling’s handler, Winston Duke (Dan Tucker), who could have added much more to the story as a supporting character, but is instead used mainly to deliver whoop-ass to the bad guys.
On the other end of the spectrum, there’s Hannah Waddingham as villainess Gail Meyer, the woman behind the scenes who’s pulling more than strings in her effort to be a success. Why Leitch chose to bludgeon us with so much of her, and not develop the true villain- brainless, vain Tom Ryder- seems a critical misstep.
While not all characters can or should redeem themselves, it would have been interesting to see Ryder team up with Colt (after the rescue), to help in some way, even if Ryder ultimately fails. Then again, there are so many other ways the story could have gone, but didn’t, that one wonders why Leitch chose the path he did (contractual obligation coming to mind as a possibility).
Though The Fall Guy has reached midpoint, I’m ready to fast-forward to better parts of the film- an effort that will be in vain, based on what I endure as the story meanders to its disappointing conclusion.
Wanting equal time for animals, Leitch introduces us and Colt to an Aussie kelpie dog that attacks men’s crotches on command (an emotional extension of its female owner’s mistrust of all men)- a tasteless gimmick that should have been used once, if at all, but is resorted to again and again during an extended fight scene. Imagine- a dog that fares better in fights than Colt.
By the time the film reaches its climax, I no longer care about any of the characters- well, maybe the dog- for the story has spun so far out of control that it’s beyond farce or satire; it’s just stupid and juvenile, the closing scenes reminiscent of the finale of the 2016 Ghostbusters reboot (which lost $70,000,000, by the way).
It’d be one thing if The Fall Guy delivered action scenes as over-the-top as “Hobbs and Shaw” or “The Transporter”- that welcome absurdity found in “The Fifth Element” that endears it to fans old and new. But no, Lietch plays it safe from beginning to end.
Like foolishly mixing together all the primary colors in hopes of Technicolor, but instead getting brown, “The Fall Guy” disappoints on all levels, from editing and dialogue, to casting and beyond.
Do yourself a favor and go see “Thelma” instead…
