So, in Mike Judge’s 2006 gem foresaw the societal sag into stupidity. If Tinsel Town has a say, we’re getting there faster than delivery pizza.
“The Fall Guy” is partly to blame.
The action chuckles swipes its moniker and central figure from the Lee Majors TV classic. It’s like 99 percent of today’s blockbusters – scraping the barrel for action and leaving coherent storytelling in the dust.
Now, we’re not angling for a “Fall Guy” flick to spout Shakespeare, but for Pete’s sake, can’t a wannabe smash hit maintain a shred of coherence?
Ryan Gosling steps in as Colt Seavers, a veteran daredevil who exits La La Land after a nasty mishap. Fast forward 18 months, and Colt is yanked back into the circus at the behest of high-octane producer Gail (“Ted Lasso’s” Hannah Waddingham).
The job brings Colt nose to nose with his old flame, Jody (Emily Blunt). They had a thing before his big boo-boo, but she’s ascended the ranks since then.
She’s now calling the shots on the next Tom Ryder extravaganza, and she’s not about to let Colt sidetrack her ascent up the Hollywood ladder.
But when Tom (Aaron Taylor-Johnson, wasted, sigh) goes MIA, Gail enlists Colt to tackle the stunts and track down the missing celeb.
Or something like that.
“The Fall Guy” is all about the stunts, some of which are worth the price of a ticket. However, a great stunt needs a narrative hook. Without one, it’s just eye candy, plain and simple.
Just like this flick.
The same goes for Colt and Jody’s romance. Gosling and Blunt are adorable together, but the narrative prefers chaos over cohesion.
And so, we endure scenes that make zero sense, utterly killing any storytelling mojo.
Some moments are so brain-achingly stupid, they physically hurt.
Take, for example, a scene where Jody pummels a person in an alien outfit (yeah, don’t ask). The sequence drags on forever, with Jody showcasing martial arts skills seemingly pulled out of thin air, giving John Wick a run for his money.
Reason? No idea.
Earlier on, Teresa Palmer gets a brief cameo as Tom’s girlfriend and nearly takes Colt out with a sword.
Why? Who knows?
Director David Leitch (“John Wick: Chapter 4,” “Bullet Train”) just can’t get enough of that chaos, continuously undercutting the film’s few bright spots.
The first 10 minutes are almost brilliant. Gosling’s character narrates the lead-up to his life-altering accident, delivering silliness and snickers aplenty.
Encore, s’il vous plaît!
But the film then takes a gradual nosedive into the world of Cookie-Cutter Hollywood Blockbusters.
Just like most recent movies, “The Fall Guy” overstays its welcome by a good 15 minutes, sucking the audience’s goodwill dry in the process.
Still, there are some classic movie quips and nods to the unsung heroes of the film industry – the stunt performers who make the magic happen. Stick around for the end credits for more of the same.
We also get a few jabs at the shallowness of Hollywood, but nothing that feels particularly clever or substantial.
Well, “The Fall Guy” is a tribute to the stunt biz, with only a token connection to the Majors TV series. But come on, creative team, couldn’t we have put a tad more effort into this love letter? First drafts aren’t meant for the silver screen, after all.
HiT or Miss: “The Fall Guy” is breezy, lightweight, and so aggressively brainless that nothing manages to stick. And yes, even in an action romp, that does make a difference.
