The Fall Guy

 

Director and former stuntman David Leitch's crafty tribute to Hollywood stunt performers, The Fall Guy, is a movie buff's delight -- self-referential and loaded with cinematic Easter eggs -- with two highly appealing leads -- Emily Blunt as cinematographer Jody Moreno and Ryan Gosling as Colt Seavers, the title character.

Except for the many grueling stunts staged for Gosling by Leitch and company, the film is not a particularly challenging lift for Blunt or the other members of the strong cast -- Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Hannah Waddingham, Winston Duke, among them -- but everyone is having a hell of time.

In the opening minutes of the picture, Gosling's Colt is injured in a botched fall and retires for a year, without a word to Jody, with whom he was romantically involved. Waddingham's movie producer Gail invites Colt back to work on Jody's first picture as director, filming in Australia. Colt accepts, believing Jody has asked for him specifically. He hopes to rekindle their relationship.

When he arrives, he receives a chilly welcome from Jody, learns the actor for whom he has worked as stunt performer Tom Ryder (Taylor-Johnson) has disappeared and that Gail needs Colt to double for Tom on the set and search for the actor before the studio discovers he's missing.

This investigation leads Colt to one outrageous set piece of close-quarter combat and vehicular chase after another, with each subsequent bit more mind-blowing than what had come before.

Colt discovers a conspiracy and murder connected to Ryder's disappearance and finds himself a prime suspect.

It's all pretty ridiculous but is such a spirited endeavor that audiences aren't likely to mind one bit.