‘The Fall Guy’ is a fun celebration of stunt performers

When it comes to unsung cinematic heroes, stunt performers definitely deserve a verse and ‘The Fall Guy’ (2024) is a whole song.

Directed by veteran stuntman David Leitch and starring Emily Blunt and Ryan Gosling, ‘The Fall Guy’ retools the 80s’ series for the big screen in a mishmash of crazy stunts, comedic banter and solid casting.

While the age-old story of the movie star and the film director can be cinematic gold, the action comedy mines the dynamics between the stuntman (Gosling playing Colt Seavers) and the camera operator (Blunt as Jody Moreno).

He’s one of the best in the business and doubles for the insufferable movie star Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson). She likes spicy margaritas, has ambitions of being a film director and the pair are falling in love. That is until he gets injured and ghosts her.

Though they’re both thinly drawn, Gosling and Blunt have enough charisma and on-screen chemistry for us to skip over the blanks and dive right into the sparsely sketched plot which involves a missing leading man, a murder, artificial intelligence, some much-needed personal growth and an overarching attempt to win the girl back. This is peppered with a bunch of high energy fight and stunt sequences, some of which are broken down in the credits.

As far as movies about the movies go, ‘The Fall Guy’ doesn’t take itself too seriously and is a fun celebration of stunt performers, those battered and bruised movie set legends who should really be recognised by awards shows like the Oscars.

Also starring Winston Duke, (‘Black Panther’), Hannah Waddingham (‘Ted Lasso’) and Stephanie Hsu (‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’), ‘The Fall Guy’ presents an entertaining ensemble, even when the plot feels a little holey.

Grab a ticket and see this on the big screen if you enjoy films about the scenes behind the scenes and are partial to movies where people fall from things, crash through windows, are set on fire, drive like Evel Knievel and get so high they start seeing unicorns.

The winner of last month’s movie competition is Jacel Varela.

Want to win a movie ticket to see ‘The Fall Guy’ (2024) or a movie of your choice at Ster-Kinekor? Simply answer the following question: ‘The Fall Guy’ director David Leitch is also a professional what? Email your name, cellphone number and answer to weekender@namibian.com.na with the subject line MOVIE.

– martha@namibian.com.na; Martha Mukaiwa on Twitter and Instagram; marthamukaiwa.com