« Une lettre d’amour à [insérez le sujet] » often comes up in the reviews we see on movie posters or in trailers. The formula actually applies to The Fall Guya true love letter to action cinema.
It is more specifically addressed to stuntmen, who risk their lives without real recognition on set. This is the job that director David Leitch did before his first experience behind the camera with Chad Stahelski for John Wick. He notably acted as Brad Pitt’s understudy five times, then directed him in Bullet Train.
The martial arts filmmaker’s films are distinguished by their clever blend of action, camaraderie and humor. The Fall Guy adds a new ingredient: a love story.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY UNIVERSAL PICTURES, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt
The screenplay by Drew Pearce (Iron Man 3, Hobbs & Shaw) takes root around the filming of MetalStorm, the first production of Jody Moreno (Emily Blunt, as brilliant as ever). Its main actor, Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson, perfectly detestable), has been missing for a few days. Not wanting to report the disappearance to the authorities, producer Gail Meyer (Hannah Waddingham, seen in the series Ted Lasso) unearths Colt Seavers (Ryan Gosling, brimming with charisma) to find him. An experienced stuntman having abandoned the profession following a serious injury 18 months previously, he accepts the offer in the hope of seeing Jody again with whom he had a relationship before the accident.
The Fall Guy is inspired by the series of the same name broadcast from 1981 to 1986. Lee Majors played the role taken over by Ryan Gosling.
With smiles and looks, the Canadian actor deploys all his arsenal of charm to pay homage to the original work and maintain the course of a story that overdoes it at the end.
He captures Colt’s great confidence and deep vulnerability beautifully. The broken love between him and the filmmaker played by Emily Blunt seems sincere and is a good vehicle for comic and touching scenes. Their characters aren’t particularly fleshed out, but they are so well played that you feel like you know them.
Spectacular !
In addition to being impressive, the action scenes serve the story well. They have an old-fashioned style that is difficult to describe, but immediately recognizable. We like exciting chases and explosive shootouts in a context that is not that of the end of the world or an armed conflict.
This remains no less true in the absurd last act, which unfortunately moves away from narrative simplicity in favor of increasingly serious issues. The heaviness of the scenario also affects the very pleasant sustained pace at the beginning. The dynamic camera and long shots of the first scenes are replaced by a more conventional montage with rapid cuts.
The different versions ofI Was Made for Lovin’ Youby Kiss, heard over the course of two hours, clearly illustrate our impression: there is no need to change the formula when the original is so effective. The Fall Guy is at its best when it plays the same notes as the works that inspired it.
Indoors
Check the movie schedule
Action
The Fall Guy
(VF: The stuntman)
David Leitch
With Ryan Gosling, Emily Blunt, Aaron Taylor-Johnson
2:06 a.m.