Disappointing 'The Fall Guy' is a stand-in for actual fun
Universal
That feeling when you ache for characters to be together. It’s so hard to pull off and so exceptionally grueling when it works. Ryan Gosling has been there (with Emma Stone) in “La La Land.” So has Emily Blunt (with Matt Damon) in “The Adjustment Bureau.”
In “The Fall Guy,” though, heart-shattering yearning becomes a light wanting, through no fault of the performers: This is a movie that attempts to be a romance and a comedy and an action movie and even a mystery, but action director David Leitch (“Hobbs & Shaw,” “Bullet Train”) only impresses in one of those areas.
Stuntman extraordinaire Colt (Gosling) excels in countless ways, from flipping cars to falling from great distances. Yet an on-set accident derails both his career and his relationship with camera operator/aspiring director Jody (Blunt), for reasons that are vague and unsatisfying and frankly unconvincing for characters of this age and apparent maturity level otherwise. But they have to move apart to be forced together again 18 months later, when Jody’s helming “Metalstorm” and Colt finds himself handpicked to help with significant challenges on- and off-camera regarding arrogant movie star Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson).
If that sounds like delicious summer blockbuster at once meta and intimate, bad news: Based on the ‘80s TV series, “The Fall Guy” is a quintessential example of too much and not enough, where all the lovelorn regret and expertly timed explosions can’t compensate for a thinness in the story and characters. Colt, Jody and others repeatedly reference other movies (yet oddly never “Cowboys & Aliens,” to which “Metalstorm” seems in debt), with writer Drew Pearce apparently thinking that mentioning “The Fast and the Furious” and “Notting Hill” will therefore give “The Fall Guy” a great mix of both. But we barely learn anything about Colt and Jody as individuals or a couple, and the slowly developing narrative is far too predictable to land so hard on a conspiracy as a driving force. The jokes usually aren’t given room to connect, and aren’t that good anyway.
While Taylor-Johnson is miscast (the part needed someone who can more strongly play with an image; Channing Tatum would’ve been better), Gosling (“Drive,” “Blue Valentine,” “Crazy Stupid Love”), in a role that sometimes feels like a mashup of past work, continues to thrive as the heartthrob who maybe can’t quite get it right. Blunt’s charming and sturdy in showing the demands on a director and her character’s ability to keep a lot of plates spinning.
Leitch can’t say the same, though. “The Fall Guy” thinks it’s taking a big swing at generating huge heart and smiles, but it’s all so very OK, leaving no particular damage or sensation in its wake.
C+
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