When stuntman Colt Seavers (Ryan Gosling) breaks his back performing a dangerous movie stunt, he withdraws from both his career and the steamy crush he and camera operator/aspiring director Jody Moreno (Emily Blunt) have been kindling. Eighteen months later, an offer to work on an absurd space western, Metalshoot, filming in Australia, lures him back into the high-wire world of tentpole moviemaking. The film’s overeager producer, Gail Meyer (Hannah Waddingham), insists on his participation and draws him out of retirement. Her insistence, however, hides ulterior motives soon to be revealed. Upon his arrival, Colt realizes that while he’s been brought under the guise of being Tom Ryder’s (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) body double, he’s actually there to help locate the missing high-profile, hot-tempered star. To make matters worse, he finds his now-ex Jody in charge of the production, who greets his unexpected arrival with cool disdain.

Gosling and Blunt do their best to salvage director David Leitch’s half-cocked action comedy The Fall Guy to mixed results. Both performers are at the top of their A-list game, with Gosling flashing his winsome grin and Blunt showcasing a mix of savvy charm and heartfelt poise. Their chemistry is undeniable, The Fall Guy soaring when the two superstars’ charisma ignites, creating the film’s most surefire pyrotechnics. Nevertheless, Leitch, a stunt coordinator turned director whose previous directorial credits include Atomic Blonde, Deadpool 2, and Bullet Train, mostly fails to ignite the movie around them.

Loosely adapted from the 1980s TV series of the same name, The Fall Guy marks Leitch’s second collaboration with screenwriter Drew Pearce (Hobbs & Shaw). Their output here is more formidable than that dreadful prior outing but The Fall Guy just doesn’t manage to shift into high gear, ultimately losing traction on its unstable foundation—much like Colt during a beach-side car roll. For a movie about stuntmen and their craft, the stunts here are mostly surprisingly forgettable. Leitch stages a few mildly memorable moments, including a disorientating dumptruck chase, and a fiery boat ride that have the BTS footage to prove their practicality.

Despite these efforts, they fall short of delivering the soaring money shots needed to electrify the rowdy Hall H audiences at Comic-Con, something Jody desperately desires for her janky sci-fi-western Metalshoot. The movie’s chase sequences, while conceptually thrilling, falls flat with choppy editing and unclear action sequences, diminishing the visceral excitement such a scene should command. Similarly, the actual stunt choreography and action balletics, suffer from a lack of realism, stripping away the raw, gritty danger essential to gripping stunt work. For a movie that claims to be a love letter to the art of stunts, there’s few here that truly impress.

The behind-the-scenes aspects of making of a movie within a movie provide an interesting backdrop for The Fall Guy to unfold, with production designer David Scheunenmann creating vivid and immersive sets that actually do serve to highlight and celebrate the craft of stunt work. As much as The Fall Guy is a re-envisioning of the popular 80s show, it’s equally indebted to superior showbiz-centric comedies like Tropic Thunder and Bowfinger. The comparison does Leitch’s film no favors though, as The Fall Guy proves to be a pale contender in almost every capacity. Even its many references to other movies feels itchy for approval rather than gracefully baked in to the experience.

Audiences fond of action-rom-com hybrids like 2022’s The Lost City and 2005’s Mr. and Mrs. Smith might enjoy this kooky misadventure more than this critic did. They may also be more forgiving of the film’s uneven pacing; while the first act remains upbeat, the momentum starts to falter in the second act, turning the two-plus hour runtime into somewhat of a drag—and not the racing kind. Through it all, Ryan Gosling shines, his expertly timed gestures and effortless humor infusing The Fall Guy with its share of good humor while Blunt serves up plenty of pathos. Their undeniable chemistry is the film’s surefire heat, but is not enough to keep The Fall Guy from ultimately flaming out.

CONCLUSION: ‘The Fall Guy‘, David Leitch’s ostensible love letter to stunt people, works best when it’s focused on the heated chemistry between stars Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt, less so as a goofy whodunit. That the stunts fall short in a movie about stuntmen is a major disappointment.