The Fall Guy: A Film That Knows It Is a Film and Enjoys It

In this modern age where  realism is often overused as a criterion to judge a piece of art, it is refreshing to see a film that is self-aware about its own cinematic qualities being far from reality. The Fall Guy (2024) is brilliant precisely because it doesn’t try to be. It is not trying to be profound or meaningful but instead packs in funny moments, poking fun at the film industry with smart jibes and yet ultimately appreciating its genre of comedy. 

The film centers around Colt Seavers (Ryan Gosling), an ex-stuntman who had an accident on set that caused him to be severely injured and retire from the industry. He is then persuaded to come back, seemingly to help his ex-girlfriend Jody (Emily Blunt) direct her first-ever film by finding the missing lead actor (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) who disappeared under mysterious circumstances. What follows is a hilarious series of scenes that both demonstrate a mastery of action sequences and reveal the absurdity in some of their exaggerated shots as well as their manipulation of music and other tricks to make stunts appear cool. As Colt’s life begins to resemble more and more the films he is a stuntman for, the story delves further and further into acknowledging it is a film about films. More importantly, it knows it is a comedic portrayal of the unreality of films, particularly romantic-comedy films, while itself being far from reality and very much entrenched in the romantic-comedy world. It doesn’t try to be serious, to moralize or even to adopt a more intellectual or realistic genre.

Both Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt have a knowing glint in their eyes. Clearly, they know the plot is a comedy and are playing along, just as we are playing along without trying to use our brains too much. Gosling—still emitting  “Ken” vibes as his character weeps to Taylor Swift music and goes through a series of trials and tribulations simply to ensure his ex succeeds—is effervescent in a way that proves his range as an actor. Emily Blunt plays her character with equal hilarity and exuberance. There is one scene in which, thinking Colt has abandoned her, she loses herself in a karaoke song. At the moment, she acts with such self-awareness of the scene’s satirical nature while at the same time remaining lost in the music and the emotion that I was left awed at her ability as an actress. Both she and Gosling play their roles with a masterful duality. On the one hand,  they are the unaware characters themselves, and yet, they are also simultaneously the self-aware actors who are cracking jokes at the ways their character types are typically presented in most films. There is also one sequence that uses the split-screen conversation tactic to remind us of this duality or meta-satire.  I laughed during the entirety of the experience partly because of how smartly this was done. 

I could say much more about this film in a similar vein to the praises I have already sung. But my ultimate advice would be just to watch the movie because its charm and hilarity are beyond description. Such a film should be experienced. It is light, it is funny, and it never feigns ignorance of the fact that it is a film. And what a film it is!