Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt have been talking so long about 鈥淭he Fall Guy鈥 it almost seems like it came out last year.
Alas, it just hit theaters last week and it鈥檚 as familiar as the trailers that have preceded it.
Ryan Gosling, left, and Emily Blunt in "The Fall Guy."聽
The film, in fact, isn鈥檛 much of a stretch from dozens of other action films that emerged a decade or two ago.
Based on the Lee Majors television show, 鈥淭he Fall Guy鈥 finds Gosling as Colt Seavers, an exceptional stunt man, able to do eight-and-a-half car roles, burning man bits and lots of free falls. He鈥檚 the double for a moody star (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) who goes all out off-screen, not on.
When the actor turns up missing, his agent (Hannah Waddingham) asks the stunt guy to find him.
Without a completed film, Seavers鈥 girlfriend (Blunt) could end her directing career before it even gets started. Much of the journey, it should be said, involves all kinds of stunts 鈥 ones that justify why Academy Award voters think it should be an Oscar category.
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When Seavers discovers what鈥檚 truly behind the disappearance, he鈥檚 forced to spring into another kind of action and expose the wrongs that have been hidden.
Blunt and Gosling get a handful of cute moments, but this isn鈥檛 anything Sandra Bullock and others haven鈥檛 already done.
Thanks to director David Leitch, it鈥檚 a visual resume of the kinds of things stunt performers contribute daily. Watching those car rolls, for example, makes you appreciate what isn鈥檛 done in CGI.
鈥淔all Guy鈥 talks a bit about Artificial Intelligence, too, and lets Waddingham show how a dark wig can transform just about anyone.
While the film hints at ones you鈥檝e seen before (Gosling鈥檚 character even wears a 鈥淢iami Vice鈥 jacket to commemorate his first stunts), there are questions that linger about safety.
Blunt鈥檚 film 鈥 a cross between 鈥淢ad Max鈥 and some space journey 鈥 manages to send up some of the dumber ideas that have crossed cineplex screens. She鈥檚 fun to watch in the director鈥檚 chair and isn鈥檛 afraid to take out frustrations on her performers.
When she plots with Gosling, 鈥淔all Guy鈥 is at its best. Unfortunately, that鈥檚 after we鈥檝e had an awful lot of exposition and little more than a Post-it note to understand what Taylor-Johnson鈥檚 character is about.
Blunt and Gosling are a good team; Waddingham deserves more film roles, and 鈥淭he Fall Guy鈥檚鈥 script could have been pruned. That鈥檚 the takeaway but it鈥檚 still a fun watch that doesn鈥檛 require more than passing knowledge of the movie business and an appreciation for all the things Tom Cruise claims he can do.
