The Fall Guy

The Fall Guy needs to stay down.
58/1001811060
Starring
Ryan Gosling, Emily Blunt, Hannah Waddingham
Director
David Leitch
Rating
PG-13
Genre
Action, Comedy, Drama
Release date
May 3, 2024
Overall Score
Rating Overview
Story/Plot
Visuals/Cinematography
Performances
Direction
Non-Wokeness
Rating Summary
The Fall Guy has the cast and the premise to launch a billion dollar action comedy franchise but its aggressive, almost militant desire to be a rom-com that also happens to have action in it combined with its everybody-be-Paul-Rudd-ironic comedy is the cinematic equivalent of a pickle and peanut butter sandwich.
Audience Woke Score (Vote)
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The Fall Guy was an American action-packed television series that aired from 1981 to 1986. Starring Lee Majors as Colt Seavers, a Hollywood stuntman who moonlights as a bounty hunter, the show followed his adventures as he chased down bail jumpers while performing death-defying stunts. With its blend of action, humor, and memorable theme song, “The Fall Guy” became a cult classic of 80s television.

The Fall Guy

After a stunt gone wrong, professional stuntman Colt Seavers loses his confidence, his girl, and his way. But when the love of his life needs him on the set of her big directorial break, Colt comes out of his early retirement. Little does he know that being blown up and set on fire will be the least of his problems. He’ll need all of his stuntman training if he hopes to save the day and get the girl.

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The Fall Guy Review

Held together almost entirely by a cast that is far, far better than the material, The Fall Guy is a bit of a mess and a huge missed opportunity.

Barely watchable only thanks to Ryan Gosling’s defibrillator-like charisma shocking the story’s corpse back to life between bad jokes and poorly developed everything else, The Fall Guy seemingly goes out of its way to arrest its own momentum scene after scene.

Likewise, Emily Blunt is a fine actress who gives it her absolute best, delivering a sincere and nuanced performance and doing better than most anyone else could with the viscous crud of lazy dialogue penned by writer Drew Pearce (Iron Man 3). Still, even her formidable talent can’t make up for the film’s fundamental flaws.

The Fall Guy fails hardest in its tone. It never fully commits to being slapstick, parody, serious, etc., and so ends up not being any of them. The premise of a fearless can-do man’s man who puts his years of stunt training to work against opponents who’ve never been pitted against someone willing to throw himself through plated glass and fall ten stories to make a point, a man who can fight and drive, and blow $h!t up and do it all with a smile and a wink has everything it needs to be fun and exciting. Unfortunately, The Fall Guy seems almost ashamed to be what it is.

Its main story is that of a will-they-won’t-they romance played with too much sincerity for a movie with such an over-the-top premise. The romance angle could have worked but as a secondary or even tertiary plot. Instead, every time an adventurous scene is about to get interesting, the momentum is crash test dummied into a narrative brick wall as Emily Blunt calls Colt with a thinly veiled relationship metaphor that goes on forever or sings karaoke that goes on forever or does something else that goes on forever.

On those few occasions when the action isn’t brought to a complete and awkward halt by childish relationship silliness, it’s done so with an unnecessary and unfunny joke, almost as if director David Leitch (Bullet Train, Deadpool 2) is apologizing to the audience that The Fall Guy is an action film.

Coincidentally, copious quantities of irony also help to grind any emotional throughline to dust. Much like how each of the four leads in 2016’s Lady Ghostbusters was the slapstick “comic relief,” most of The Fall Guy’s cast take turns competing to see who can be the most Paul Rudd. Has the tension or excitement built? Has Ryan Gosling just been a super cool bad@$$? Welp, that means it’s time for him to knock himself down a peg with some “awe shucks” comedic self-referential irony or by treating the situation with overdeveloped meta-casualness.

When the pyrotechnics settle, and the rolling stunt cars come to a stop, The Fall Guy has the right ingredients with the wrong formula.

 

WOKE ELEMENTS

Not Much
  • Ok, there are a couple of moments in which a small woman is far more physically dangerous than they would be in real life, but it honestly comes across more as poor filmmaking than a desire by the filmmakers to make a girl boss.
    • The one or two scenes are brief and can mostly be explained away by force multipliers or a cumbersome costume.
  • The phrase toxic masculinity is uttered once, but the person using it is a vapid, self-absorbed narcissist who isn’t supposed to be taken seriously.
The One Thing
  • Emily Blunt and some random bit player are the only two characters in the film who aren’t on the spectrum between slightly or narratively conveniently dumb to borderline vegetable. They aren’t superwomen by any means, but I suppose they are noteworthy in that they are the only ones.
The Reluctant Man’s Man
  • Gosling’s Colt Seavers is a capable man of action… who isn’t the brightest, cries to chick songs, and never initiates anything. Even when he takes charge, it’s only with permission from one of the female characters. He’s a puppy dog with teeth instead of a rottweiler with manners.
    • It’s barely noticeable because Ryan Gosling is so charismatic, and Emily Blunt seems so incredibly pleasant.

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James Carrick

James Carrick is a passionate film enthusiast with a degree in theater and philosophy. James approaches dramatic criticism from a philosophic foundation grounded in aesthetics and ethics, offering insight and analysis that reveals layers of cinematic narrative with a touch of irreverence and a dash of snark.

18 comments

  • Jared

    May 3, 2024 at 11:11 pm

    Thank you . I didn’t get drawn in by the trailers despite being a fan of both leads but this review seals it..

    I’ll check it out when it streams for free.

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  • Sweet Deals

    May 4, 2024 at 11:36 am

    Our popular culture is so saturated with irony that it isn’t really amusing or edgy anymore. A little restraint and sincerity could go a long way, but since I’m guessing the people who devote their lives to making movies are trained from very young ages to conform and act like fakers for a living both on screen and off, being sincere is something they no longer know how to do.

    I am slightly more curious about the original television series, however. I liked Lee Majors in the Six Million Dollar Man. Back in the 1970s, TV budgets weren’t big and special effects weren’t impressive. The script had to be carried by the actors, and super powers had to be used judiciously when the hero was cornered, no one was looking, or where the greatest comedic effect would be applied. The result was a superhero who relied on his wits and charm to get about 3/4 of the way and pulled out the bionics only when the time was right. I liked several of the TV action heroes of the 70s and 80s (e.g. Magnum P.I., Knight Rider, Buck Rogers) because they could be all-business when they had to do the job, not take themselves too seriously when doing something silly, and be strong and gentle enough to comfort victims in distress. Back then, people knew how to be different things when the job called for it and didn’t have to apologize for it.

    Reply

  • Bunny With A Keyboard

    May 4, 2024 at 8:25 pm

    A movie can be bad without being woke, but no woke movie can be good.

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  • Ktuff_morning

    May 6, 2024 at 7:39 am

    The weakness of of your reviews are exaggeration, generalization and labeling. It seems the very purpose of your reviews is prejudice. You aren’t righting any wrongs. You’re just serving up your own version of wrong. You’ve become the wokeness you decry. In fact you’re worse because you don’t mean well.

    Did you know “conservative” fMRIs statistically show a higher degree of activity in areas of the brain related to fear and disgust? It shows in your writing.

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    • Bunny With A Keyboard

      May 6, 2024 at 11:56 am

      I’m so glad I’m able to understand the definition of words and don’t constantly embarrass myself by misusing them. Can the rest of you imagine how humiliating it would be to try to make an educated point when you can’t even get words like woman right, let alone words like woke?

      Thankfully, the woke provide a valuable asset to society: proving that the slippery slope is real and proving that some people really want to do exactly what they say they want to do.

      It was unthinkable twenty years ago, for example, that anyone would want to put pornography in elementary schools, so people who argued usually got dismissed that nobody would ever allow that and that there were too many checks and balances.

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      • Ktuff_morning

        May 7, 2024 at 6:33 pm

        “pornography in elementary schools”? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Get out. That’s exaggeration, generalization and labeling all in one sentence fragment.

        You have a conservative brain and I assume you’re in the Dotard cult. You’re basically a Wrestlemania fan but you don’t truck in fake violence or fake hate do you? I mean deep down inside. Come on now.

        I’m so glad I don’t have a conservative brain. At an early age I decided instead of accepting the pain of inconsistencies or incongruencies in my worldview I held back judgement and collected different perspectives to refine my worldview so I could eventually digest the incongruencies and inconsistencies. It’s a lifelong art. Reading books is the way.

        You, on the other hand, at a young age when confronted with gross hypocrisies in your worldview decided instead to live with the inconsistencies and incongruencies. Like the dinosaurs and the bible for one. You built scar tissue in your brain when you held simultaneous beliefs at odds with each other. You built the scar tissue and stuck with it and ignored other perspectives.

        It’s a hard pill to swallow at times isn’t it? You think of it when you go camping or hiking on trails. You’ve clung to your hypocrisy and always wore it like a badge of honor, like an idiot, and you know it. Don’t you look at a helicopter flying across the sky and marvel at the ingenuity of man in nature and then contrast that amazing accomplishment with your life in an idiotic cult?

        Here’s how you get out of the cult and reconnect with your family.

        First, apply simple CBT; Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Analyze all your past comments and reviews for examples of distorted thinking like I did above. Your therapist will give you a list of distortions. Or you can get the book When Anger Hurts by McKay and Fanning. After CBT you have to quit the drug hard right wing news. That’s a drug and you know it. You’re feeding on anger, tribalism and prejudice. Go to Kaotic and read the comments. That’s the type of thinking you’re headed for. Or should I say the type of feeling? The rush?

        You will never be smart, lovable and good-looking as I am until you start to do what I tell you to do and think how I tell you to think.

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        • Sweet Deals

          May 7, 2024 at 9:12 pm

          I think you could benefit from showing a little restraint, too.

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          • Bunny With A Keyboard

            May 7, 2024 at 10:29 pm

            If they could show restraint, they wouldn’t need to have pornography in elementary schools to attempt to normalize the behavior.

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          • Ktuff_morning

            May 8, 2024 at 12:48 am

            Restraint? Are you woking me?

        • Dodgethis27

          May 8, 2024 at 12:13 am

          Please reevaluate your life as soon as possible.

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        • Matt

          May 18, 2024 at 10:12 am

          Ktuff, that seems like a whole lot of projection on someone you don’t even know…
          I mean your assumptions are blistering my brain! When you comment about the hypocrisies and inconsistencies, I couldn’t help but think of progressives who cry out for women’s rights and then promote biological men going into womens toilets and change rooms. Can you see any hypocrisy there?
          On the topic of pornography in schools, you clearly haven’t seen the books that have been put into schools by lgbt extremists (just to clarify, obviously not all lgbt individuals are extremists, but those who are, are not serving their communities well by doing this). Some books are clearly pornographic. I don’t see why that is so funny to you.
          Lastly, it’s interesting to see you point on dinosaurs and the Bible. It’s clear that many issues in the world are complex. Like dinosaurs, (which are actually referenced in the Bible). But for you to make that accusation while ignoring the extreme lack of scientific explanation for how life came from non-life or how the big bang could happen in the first place, shows how selectively you are in choosing what is hypocritical and what isn’t (which is rather hypocritical in itself).
          Chances are, you’ve just trolled on and won’t be back, but I hope you think about it some more and keep on with that therapy, it’s not quite working for you yet. 😉

          Reply

          • Sweet Deals

            May 18, 2024 at 6:02 pm

            Trolls thrive on attention and chaos. They don’t care about anyone’s opinions except their own, so it’s better to starve them instead.

    • shb600

      May 17, 2024 at 11:14 am

      Numerous studies have shown that liberals disproportionately suffer from mental illness. It explains a lot.

      Reply

  • Bushblocker

    May 17, 2024 at 11:23 am

    I love the site, but I disagree with the review. This movie is an absolute blast—the best movie I’ve seen in a long time. Two great stars, a great director(Leitch) and a great writer(Drew Pearce), are all at the top of their game. Great action scenes and stunts along with a lot of laughs. If you are woke or enjoy the super serious crap they nominate for the Oscars, then you will probably be seething that there isn’t a trans-non-binary queer as the lead and miss out on all the fun just like you do in the rest of your life.

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    • James Carrick

      May 17, 2024 at 11:31 am

      Life would be boring if we all agreed on everything all of the time.

      Reply

  • Julie

    May 19, 2024 at 6:21 pm

    I disagree with this review so hard. Just saw Fall Guy and loved it, it was fun and masculine and action packed and full of great 80s/90s rock music. I’m super sensitive to all the feminist/man hating themes in pop culture and this movie had barely any. You don’t seem to be able to appreciate action movies that are supposed to be just enjoyed and laughed at/with. I noticed this with your reviews of the Beekeeper and Monkeyman too. Seems like you’re turning your audience off of perfectly enjoyable decently non-woke movies just because they’re not to your taste. That doesn’t seem fair considering there aren’t enough of them these days. I don’t think I’ll be visiting this site for reviews in the future, which is a shame because it would be a worthwhile resource otherwise.

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    • James Carrick

      May 19, 2024 at 10:25 pm

      I’m glad that you enjoyed it. In his poem “The Task,” William Cooper writes that “Variety is the spice of life.” Were everyone to constantly agree, movies would all be the same, how boring.

      One of the reasons that Worth it or Woke reviews include, not only our reviewer’s honest opinions and analysis but also an itemized list of Woke Elements and a comments section is to provide our visitors with as much quality information as possible so that they can make an educated decision about their viewing options.

      I have to disagree with your assessment that I’m unable to appreciate uncomplicated action movies. On this site alone, I’ve marked almost 40 action movies and TV shows as Worth it, including Sisu, Violent Night, and Bullet Train (another David Leitch film), and I’ve conceded that movies like Godzilla x Kong, while not good, are still fun. However, The Beekeeper is an objectively bad movie on virtually every level, with schlocky performances, a dumb story, ridiculous dialogue, and strobe-like action set pieces hacked up into hundreds of cuts.

      We don’t have to agree on these things but your assertion that I’m not being “fair” couldn’t miss the mark by a wider margin. What wouldn’t be fair would be for me to write an insincere review just to placate people. There are enough compromised critics out there selling reviews to movie studios for merchandise and access.

      I have repeatedly said that I believe my role is to provide information, not marching orders, and I stick by that.

      Reply

  • Darrel

    May 26, 2024 at 5:59 am

    I couldn’t stay wake during this movie. It was just awful. I can’t see why it received so many positive reviews and a high audience score on RT. More and more I feel it’s all being manipulated. Thank you for the first honest review I have seen of this endlessly exploding turd.

    Reply

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