The Fall Guy

Director David Leitch has really been a key player in keeping the lower end of big budget action films alive when cinemas were raging with superheroes and, for that, I am grateful. However, I haven't always gelled with his various outings since his highly enjoyable debut with John Wick. His most recent film, Bullet Train, had all the potential but was exhaustively long and dampened my experience come the end of the story. Would things be different with his 2024 action flick The Fall Guy? 

Based off a 1980s TV series of the same name, The Fall Guy sees stuntman Colt Seavers break his back during a stunt and with that he falls off the industry, and loses a promising relationship with one of the producers. One day he gets a call from another producer to make a come-back in Australia where a new production is taking place but it's only when he arrives does he learn the director is his former lover. However all is not well with the production and Seavers is tasked with tracking down the leading star when they mysteriously disappear.

Starring Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt, The Fall Guy gets off to a promising stunt and makes good use of its premise, putting a stuntman into some dangerous situations. It all makes for a good time but, just like Bullet Train, wonders too far beyond the two hour mark and starts to feel the story really should be wrapping up when it just keeps going. It's not that what we get is bad per se, there just isn't enough mileage in the story to justify this being much more than a 90 minute action flick. 

The action is still fun and most of the jokes land fairly well as it pays tribute to an often overlooked corner of the movie industry but it's not one I can see myself wanting to revisit. The Fall Guy is still an easy watch, making full use of its leading stars who are on form, particularly Gosling, and will go down well on a Saturday night.