‘The Fall Guy’ Review (SXSW 2024)

Photo credit: Universal Pictures

Written by: Gracie Lowes

Action movies without CGI are making a comeback and ‘The Fall Guy’ is paving the way.

David Leitch’s new action-packed rom-com features a star-packed cast that includes Ryan Gosling, Emily Blunt, Hannah Waddingham, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Stephanie Hsu, and Winston Duke.

‘The Fall Guy’ follows Colt Seavers (Gosling) A-list star and diva Tom Ryder’s (Taylor-Johnson) stuntman. Seavers has the perfect life, he loves pushing his limits with the stunts he does for his job and he also gets to work with his girlfriend Jody Moreno (Blunt) who is a part of the film crew.

But after a stunt on his latest project goes wrong, Seavers goes into isolation within his home to heal his broken back and bruised pride.

After a year of completely shutting the world out, Seavers receives a call from a mega-budget studio movie, which is being directed by his ex requesting that he be the film’s stuntman. Unable to say no to the one that got away Seavers accepts the job.

What seemed like his perfect second chance at work but also to fix his broken relationship takes a turn and becomes more than he signed up for when he finds out Moreno wasn’t the one who requested him and the lead star of the film goes missing.

Now Seavers must go on a mission to find Tom Ryder and save Jody’s film before the studio shuts it down.

This film might follow a made-up movie stunt guy, but the actual stunts and shots that were done for this film are incredible. From the opening to the closing scene ‘The Fall Guy’ had viewers on the edge of their seats and holding their breath while watching each of the thrilling stunts whether it was seeing someone get set on fire multiple times or jumping out of a helicopter.

But one of the most notable stunts was Logan Holladay’s cannon rolls in a car that broke a Guinness world record, Holladay rolled the car eight and a half times, breaking the previous record of seven set by Adam Kirley for 2006’s Casino Royale.

Along with the action this film was also able to mix in a troubled love story between Gosling and Blunt’s characters, and despite their Barbenheimer (Barbie and Oppenheimer) rivalry, the duo poured so much emotion into their characters.

The chemistry of these characters could be felt throughout the entire film even with all of the action and explosions happening, no matter what point of the difficult relationship their characters faced it was clear that the casting for this film was on point and it created a beautiful dynamic for the rest of the cast members to play off of.

Overall, I give ‘The Fall Guy’ a 5 out of 5 stars.

I cannot recommend this movie enough, from the killer soundtrack that features icons like Taylor Swift and Bon Jovi, to the witty comedy and non-stop action sequences that keep your eyes glued to the screen for the entire movie, this film has something that everyone can enjoy.

If you enjoyed ‘Mission: Impossible’ and ‘Baby Driver’ then check out ‘The Fall Guy’ when it hits theatres on May 3.