Adapted from the series “The Fall Guy”, “The Fall Guy” hits our screens this Wednesday, May 1st. And here’s why you shouldn’t miss this action romantic comedy starring Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt.
What does it talk about ?
It’s the story of a stuntman, and like all stuntmen, he gets shot, exploded, crushed, thrown out of windows and always falls higher and higher… to the delight of the audience. After an accident which almost ended his career, this anonymous cinema hero will have to find a missing star, foil a plot and try to win back the woman of his life while braving death every day on the sets. What’s the worst that could happen to him?
3 good reasons to see The Fall Guy
If the argument “the film is released on a public holiday” (with previews from this Tuesday evening, April 30) does not completely convince you, here are others.
1 – A long-standing project
Adapting the series The Timely Man to the cinema does not go back to yesterday and to the project carried out by David Leitch. Since 2010, the project has regularly come up in conversations and news. Without really succeeding, so much so that the film had become one of those Hollywood sea serpents, alongside The Man Who Was Worth 3 Billion (another flagship title by Lee Majors).
For many, this is the end of a long running gag. But it was worth the wait when we see the result: if it is not necessary to have seen all 113 episodes of The Fall Guy to fully appreciate The Fall Guy, which only includes the initial premise (and the original title), it is very difficult to deny pleasure in this romantic action comedy which hits the mark on all counts. Largely thanks to its actors.
2 – Barbenheimer: act 2
Last July, they faced each other in theaters: one in Barbie, the other in Oppenheimer. Today, it is on the same screen that Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt are reunited. With an infectious joy that should give a big smile to the spectators. Back in the shoes of a stuntman, thirteen years after Drive, the actor recalls that he has great comic talent with his unfailing seriousness in the most offbeat situations.
And her energy, contrary to that of the flamboyant Emily Blunt, gives us some beautiful moments of comedy and romance. Because Colt Seavers must not only save a missing star, but also win back the woman of his life, which will prove to be at least as complicated, if not more.
In the purest tradition of comedies “screwballs” (where burlesque and lively exchanges go hand in hand) from the golden age of Hollywood, Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt pass the buck brilliantly. Notably on the set of a science fiction blockbuster at the crossroads of Dune and Mad Max where they settle scores in the middle of extras in costumes. And they offer us one of the funniest scenes of the beginning of the year.
3 – A love letter to stuntmen
If Steven Spielberg loved this feature film, much to Ryan Gosling’s surprise, we were more expecting Tom Cruise to take his lead.
Because we knew the love letter to cinema (The Fabelmans, Babylon, Empire of Light), and The Fall Guy can fall into this category. But more precisely, since he declares his love for the work of stuntmen, which director David Leitch knows well having been one, before going behind the camera to direct John Wick, Atomic Blonde, Deadpool 2, Hobbs & Shaw and Bullet Train.
In a film conscious of its nature, where fiction and the reality of the daily life of film crews frequently come together, it shows us behind the scenes of different types of stunts and even uses certain artifices as narrative elements. Without the need to clear cables and other technicians in the field, since they are sometimes part of the scene.
Universal Pictures International France Ryan Gosling, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and their doubles
A beautiful tribute, funny and spectacular, which continues until the end credits in the form of a making-of which shows us the faces of Ryan Gosling’s understudies: “We generally seek to maintain the suspension of disbelief, so that the magic continues by ensuring that [les acteurs et cascadeurs] are one”tells us Kelly McCormick, producer of The Fall Guy and partner of David Leitch.
“But this project seemed appropriate to show how practically we did things. That this team worked very, very hard, hand in hand, to perform very special stunts in The Fall Guy .” “We decided very quickly that we wanted to celebrate the community where this story comes from”continues David Leitch. “It seemed to fit with the series we are adapting.”
Stunt performers risk more than anyone, without receiving the recognition they deserve
“We were already working with the Academy of Oscars, so that the stuntmen were finally recognized, and The Fall Guy seemed to us to be a good way to shine the spotlight on them, in parallel with the in-depth work that we are currently doing. “ A panty marking in which Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt also participated last March, when they came to present a trophy.
“Generally speaking, stunt performers are not recognized enough”the actor tells us. “They risk more than anyone else, without receiving the recognition they deserve. We ourselves see how much talent is involved in what they do, and how what they design is not in the script or the storyboards: they are really the ones who create all of this. Very often, directors entrust them with an entire segment of a film to conceptualize from A to Z.”
“It’s an art form that should be as recognized as costume designers or makeup artists.” Can a theatrical success of The Fall Guy, in addition to being deserved, change things?
Comments collected by Maximilien Pierrette in Paris on April 23, 2024