The idea of Ryan Gosling as a charming, if bad-luck prone, comedic leading man does not seem like an unusual thing to see on screen. We’ve seen Gosling being consistently funny on screen, most recently in his Oscar-nominated work in “Barbie”. The fact that he is funny, certainly one of the more easily funny of his contemporaries, feels like a Hollywood fact. Yet, I was surprised to realise after seeing his new release that, other than his turn in the more sombre comedy of “Lars and the Real Girl”, “The Fall Guy” is Gosling’s only work as the sole male-lead of a comedy film.
Gosling’s impressive, and eternally gif-able comedic work in “The Nice Guys” and “Crazy Stupid Love” were both supported by older actors in comedic turns. It’s a realisation that makes the earnestly committed comedic throughline he draws in “The Fall Guy”, a movie that is often an action film, sometimes a sweet romantic comedy, and at times a gentle satire of modern moviemaking, so important and rewarding to watch. David Leith’s new action comedy is many things, but above all else it feels like a necessary moment to remind us that Ryan Gosling is a consummate, comedic, leading man.
After a brief introduction where we meet Gosling’s Colt Seaver, a Hollywood stunt-director to a famous action-star who suffers a serious injury when a stunt goes wrong, the film jumps forward to its main timeline 18 months later where we meet the dejected Colt working as a valet at a Mexican restaurant. Colt is nursing feelings of hopelessness after blaming himself for his stunt mishap until a call from his former producer finds him halfway across the world in Australia. His abandoned camerawoman girlfriend (Emily Blunt as Jody Moreno) is now a director. His former action-star partner (Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Tom Ryder) is seemingly missing. Hannah Waddingham as Gail Meyer is his increasingly frenetic producer and Colt is navigating his sense of self-doubt and returning to his career. There’s a lot going on, and yet “The Fall Guy” is often less busy than it might seem.
David Leitch’s last film, “Bullet Train”, was a hype-aggressive action-comedy on a train that felt too self-satisfied in its smarmy rhythms that felt redolent of his work on “Deadpool”. I approached “The Fall Guy” with caution, and for some of its first 15 minutes – threaded by a series of too ironic voice-over exposition sequences from Colt, I still kept my initial interest from becoming too committed. But by the time Colt arrives in Sydney on the set of Jody’s film “Metalstorm” to complete a vehicular stunt under the guidance of the stunt-coordinator, his old friend Dan Tucker (Winston Duke) “The Fall Guy” hits its stride and begins to move with the same casual confident energy of its leading man.
Gosling has used his commanding stride as a critical physical trait in some of his most serious roles: the stolidity in “Blade Runner 2049”, the menacing gait in “Drive”, the sombreness through his body in “First Man”. Gosling’s ability to harness his body cadences as central to his work makes the physical compulsion of his work in “The Fall Guy” that much more natural and exciting for the ways the masculine energy is turned into comedic excellence here. Stunt-work is an essential part of the film, which is almost metatextual in its celebration of the behind-the-scenes heroes of action film. The celebration goes all the way to the credit sequences; the film features hilarious and engaging behind-the-scenes moments of the actual stuntmen all the way until the credits roll. It’s a celebration of physicality that makes the developing thriller aspect of the film. “The Fall Guy” takes us through sequences of attempted murder, actual murder, car chases, testicle-eating dogs (which feels like a nod to Leitch’s history with “John Wick”) and more all with impressive prowess. But what’s important here is that all this action occurs while the comedic backbone of Drew Pierce’s script remains paramount. And every action-move of Gosling is done with sharp comedic insight. It’s thrilling to watch. So thrilling that I occasionally found myself marvelling at how well “The Fall Guy” serves its ensemble.
Aaron Taylor-Johnson was one the two best things in the underwhelming “Bullet Train” (his chemistry with Brian Tyree Henry must be revisited in the future). He appears more briefly here than I would like, but it’s a reminder of his unpredictability as a performer. He can play unctuous, despicable, charming, silly and disgusting and there are moments he’s doing all at once as the exasperating leading man of the film being shot. Meanwhile, Emily Blunt’s appearance makes this a Barbenheimer event that sees the actress following her work in last year’s “Oppenheimer” with a charming comedic turn. Jody isn’t as thoughtfully written as Colt, but as the film deepens Blunt emerges as key to its pleasure. Further out Waddingham, Duke, and brief but engaging Stephanie Hsu offer many moments of amusement all punctuated by indelible chemistry with Gosling.
The exigencies of plot begin to feel almost incidental as “The Fall Guy” ups its mayhem and chaos leading into a final sequence that celebrates movies and action tricks with aplomb. Even as we root for the stakes of justice and romance, “The Fall Guy” insists on relentless humour all the way to end feeling like a balm of genuine good-natured comedy amidst a more serious landscape of 2024 film so far. I left the theatre grinning to myself and turning over a thought in my head that I feel more and more committed to. This might be my favourite Gosling work since his tour-de-force performance in “Blue Valentine”. The sheer irresistibility of his comedic work here feels like a movie star coming home to what he knows best. He’s perfect.
“The Fall Guy” is playing in cinemas
