The actor that is well known for playing Ken in the blockbuster hit movie ‘Barbie’ has now taken a different turn with a new acting role as a stuntman, rather than a doll. 43-year-old Ryan Gosling is now starring in his 32nd film, “The Fall Guy.”
The new film is loosely based off of the 1980’s TV show “The Fall Guy” starring Lee Majors and Douglas Barr. The series aired on ABC for five years, premiering on Nov. 4, 1981 and ending on May 2, 1986. The stuntman show was a live action, PG rated series that was widely popular in the 80s and 90s. Taking the storyline into movie form, director and former stunt performer David Leich was excited for the role because he understands the art of stunt work. “The Fall Guy” distributed by Universal Pictures comes to theaters on May 3.
“The Fall Guy” takes place in Australia where Gosling stars as the main character, Colt Seavers, who plays the role of a stuntman in various movies within the film. After Colt suffered a back injury, he must find a way to get back on his feet and back into stunting. He then travels to Sydney, Australia to stunt in his ex-girlfriend Jody’s movie, Metalstorm; Jody is played by Emily Blunt. The purpose of “The Fall Guy” was to give credit to stuntmen and show some of the numerous things that they do. However, Gosling did not play a believable stuntman and he did not even do his own stunts, he had five stunt doubles.
To have an actor play a role, it needs to be believable. For Gosling in this movie, there were points where it was obvious that he was not made to act for a stuntman role. He more commonly fits the role of a comedic love interest, which there was some examples in parts of the film. However, just by watching some of the stunts, it was obvious that they were not preformed by Gosling. Therefor his role was not believable and the storyline did not make as much sense.
The storyline spends a lot of time debating over whether or not Jody and Colt will get back to together. They eventually did but there was a ton of horrifically coy dialogue and poor metaphors used throughout the film that did not make it exciting to watch. The main actors Gosling and Blunt are both successful actors on their own but do not make a great pair together. “The only reason Gosling and Blunt have “chemistry” is because they’re both impossibly beautiful. But they don’t actually have a lot of scenes together,” Neal Pollack from Book And Film Globe reported.
For example, characters Colt and Jody appeared numerous times during the movie and they were often talking on the phone. Which is ironic because they were in the same city as one another. It did not make a lot of sense to the storyline for them to frequently be speaking on the phone.
Although the movie has some comedic moments between Colt and Jody or other characters, there is no distinct storyline or focus. The film moves around with many different genre-wanna-be types like action, thrill, romance, comedy and mystery. Yet, it is categorized as an action/adventure movie. The only “action” takes place in the beginning of the plot and there is more mystery than adventure towards the falling action.
The film does include some stunts and special effects to help make the movie “action based.” However, there were other moments like a distant and not detailed “love story” as well as some random comedy moments where Goslings character would crack a joke about stuntmen or something along the lines. “The Fall Guy” bounced around from topic to topic and included many small side stories but there was not one big focus.
“‘The Fall Guy’ feels like an entire feature of scattered ideas that have been done better elsewhere,” Chase Hutchinson from TheWrap reported.
“‘The Fall Guy’ is too flat in the early going to fully meet that challenge, rallying toward the end without reaching the heights required to make a really big splash,” Brian Lowry from CNN reported.
“The Fall Guy” movie falls disappointingly short of expectations, stumbling through its runtime with a complicated plot and dull character development. The storyline feels disjointed, with scenes that seem more like disconnected sections rather than a cohesive narrative. The characters lack depth, coming across as clichéd rather than fully fleshed-out personalities. Despite the potential for thrilling action sequences, the film fails to deliver any real excitement, instead opting for predictable and uninspired set pieces. Overall, “The Fall Guy” leaves audiences feeling underwhelmed and uninvested, making it a forgettable addition to the action genre and individuals would be better off with watching other movies that Gosling has starred in, not this one.
Susan • Oct 16, 2024 at 5:24 am
Did we all watch the same movie? I was totally entertained. The critic was upset Ryan didn’t do his own stunts? Ridiculous! Thought Ryan was great, and looks sexy as a blond. Lighten up people, it was a comedy, and had a great ending which seems missing in a lot of movies I’ve watched lately. They just end like they couldn’t figure out how to close
Morgaine Swann • Sep 23, 2024 at 10:01 am
The movie starts out stupid but it does honor stunt performers and makes the most of their myriad gifts. If you can get through the early parts of Jody cowboy/alien bit, you:re in some great action. By the end of the movie I was totally invested in a happily ever after. The end was spectacular. I’ll watch it again.
Suzer • Sep 21, 2024 at 6:59 am
I just watched it and thought it was extremely entertaining. I don’t think it was meant to be taken super seriously, as the critic seems to think it should. I think it did give an ode to stuntmen/women regardless. Playing one doesn’t mean you have to be one. Emily Blunt did an awesome performance as usual. Ryan Gosling was just plain Cool!!—and check out his arms. I think their chemistry was spot on. I live in the same city as my husband and we talk on the phone alot. The issues this guy had with the movie don’t make sense—way too serious. It was comedy, it was funny, it definitely brought to light the difficulty stunt people go thru (repeatedly), and who doesn’t like a love story?
Deborah • Sep 1, 2024 at 10:17 pm
Oh my goodness, what a terrible movie. It looks like it was geared towards 12 year old children. He’s done so many great movies, and this looked like someone trying to make an easy buck on a low rate movie. Very disappointing. Needs to set the bar a little higher for sure.
Latasha • Jul 14, 2024 at 7:39 am
Could not disagree with this article more.
Regina Rathert • May 27, 2024 at 8:11 pm
Terrible movie. Story never really went anywhere and fell flat. I don’t see any chemistry between Blunt and Gosling and the pieces of the story just did not fit together or make sense. The movie stopped and we had to go out into the hallway due to tornado warning and we did not return to the theater but went home instead. It was really lame.
Eileen • May 25, 2024 at 8:35 pm
I’m not sure we watched the same fall Guy with Emily Blunt and Ryan gosling because what I watched was phenomenal and the soundtrack was spot on. Very entertaining , very enjoyable. Can’t wait to watch it again.
Lori Ferris • May 29, 2024 at 10:44 am
Ryan Gosling ROCKS all his movies he is a great actor and not bad looking He puts his heart and soul in everything he does It won’t be long before he gets an OSCAR!!!!