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After playing in Barbie last year, Ryan Gosling really needed to get his man card back, so he decided to star in a movie about Stunt Guys. There were no sissies doing the stunts in this movie. It looked like a lot of guys (and even a woman or two) took a lot of tough hits. I hope they had some good pain relievers and health care insurance.
The Fall Guy had a production budget of $130 million and an advertising budget estimated at around $100 million. With a worldwide gross of $181,064, 590 it was a stunning disappointment and a money loser. That’s surprising because The Fall Guy was an enjoyable movie with two of the biggest movie stars in Hollywood.
Before I get into the review, I know you have some questions about stunt performers.
Lucky for you, I have the answers.
Stunt Doubles in film can make between $62k-$70k per year, while experienced individuals performing high risk stunts can make $100k per year.
Stunt men and women have been doing crazy and stupid stuff all for the sake of our entertainment for over a century now. To watch an incredible collection of the top 10 film stunts in history, click here.
After watching that Youtube video, I’m sure you’re now wondering: How many people have died while doing stunts? The answer to that question is tough to determine. An AP Article from 2016 says 43 people have died on sets in the US since 1990. But not all of those are stunt performers. Some of them are cameramen or women, or even crew members. 150 people have been left with life-altering injuries, once again, not all of them are stunt performers.
An article on The Wrap explains 12 stunt performers who’ve died on set.
1) Jose Marco died in 1969 while filming an underwater sequence in the film “Shark.” He was mauled to death by one of the sharks, which had been improperly sedated.
2) A.J. Bakunas died in 1978 while filming “Steel.” Although he performed his falling stunt correctly, his landing pad was faulty, and he died a day later from injuries.
3) Jack Tyree died in 1981 while filming “The Sword and the Sorcerer.” While performing an 80-foot fall, Tyree missed the airbag below and died on impact.
4) Paolo Rigoni died in 1981 while filming one of the James Bond movies, “For Your Eyes Only.” He was pinned under a sled during the ski chase scene.
5) Joseph Leonard Svec died in 1982 on the set of “The Right Stuff.” He was knocked unconscious before he was able to eject himself from a plane.
6) Chris Lamon died in 2000 in Toronto while performing a stunt for the movie “Exit Wounds.” He hit his head when rolling out of an upside-down van and died from his injuries six days later.
7) Harry L. O’Connor died in 2002 when performing a stunt for the Vin Diesel movie “XXX.” He was a retired Navy Seal who was being pulled on a paraglider that hit a bridge pillar.
8) Lu Yanqing died in 2008 in a fire on set caused by two boats crashing into one another while making the movie “Red Cliff” in China.
9) Kun Liu died in 2012 in an explosion on the set of “The Expendables 2” while filming in Bulgaria. His parents sued Millenium/Nu Image for wrongful death.
10) John Bernecker died in July 2017 after falling from a 25-foot balcony while filming season 8 of “The Walking Dead.”
11) Motorcycle road racer and stunt performer Joi Harris was killed in August 2017 on the Vancouver set of “Deadpool 2” while doubling as Zazie Beetz’ Domino during a motorcycle scene in the film that went horribly awry.
12) Warren Appleby, a stunt coordinator on the DC Universe series “Titans” died in July 2019 after being hit by a piece of equipment that unexpectedly came loose during preparation for a shoot at an offsite special effects facility in Vancouver.
From everything I’ve found, it seems people want to be stunt players because of the adrenaline rush and the money.
Obviously, you have to be in top notch shape. That is first and foremost. Professional Stunt Performers are almost in as good of shape as professional athletes.
Other than that, from everything I’ve read, it seems like people become Stunt Performers by who they know. So, if you want to get into the business of taking hard falls for someone else, move to LA and start contacting as many people in the stunt world as you can.
Now it’s time to get to the analysis of The Fall Guy.
There is a phenomenal dialogue scene in this movie where Jody (Emily Blunt) and Colt (Ryan Gosling) are talking about their relationship in front of the entire crew. It’s written spectacularly well and the acting is terrific. I don’t want to give anything away, but it’s such an incredible and creative scene. I was laughing all throughout. It has to be one of the top 5 Dialogue Scenes I’ve ever seen. Emily Blunt absolutely nails her character in the scene and that makes it terrific.
I was very interested to see how good Ryan Gosling would be in this movie. I saw The Gray Man two years ago and he was pretty bad in that movie—he had almost no emotion whatsoever. I had to throw out his performance in Barbie last year because it’s caricature. I wanted to see him give a truly great performance in a complex role, and boy did he deliver. Ryan Gosling was terrific in this movie. He had a way of saying lines in ways that were nonchalant but often worked perfect. There were a lot of moments in this movie where he was a World-Class actor, but there were also a few close misses.
Interesting Note:
Apparently, Ryan Gosling loves Moroccan food. So much so, that he opened up a Moroccan restaurant with celebrity Chef Benameur. I’ve found an article that says the restaurant nearly bankrupted Gosling and he was doing the plumbing himself. I’m not sure I actually believe that, but it’s quite the image: Super Famous Wealthy A-Lister Fixes Pipes In The Basement Of Failing Restaurant. On second thought, no way can that be true. Goes to show you can’t believe everything you read on the internet. But he did, in fact open a Moroccan restaurant in Beverly Hills. It’s called Tagine. You can visit it next time you’re in the area.
If you didn’t know, with all that cumin, cardamom, and turmeric, Moroccan food can be quite spicy. Speaking of spicy, apparently Ryan Gosling’s performance in Gangster Squad in 2013 was a little too spicy for Anna Kendrick. All I have to say is, Anna, I hope your mom doesn’t follow you on X.
You know, I’ve heard several women say their favorite thing to do was sleep and I’ve always wondered if that was code for something else. Anna, I’ll take your tweet as confirmation. Thanks for clearing that one up for me.
Ryan Gosling is terrific in this movie even World-Class at times.
Ryan Gosling Performance Grade:
9.1 A Excellent
Emily Blunt was really incredible in this movie. She was spot on the entire movie, except for one minor part. When she was singing karaoke, she came out of character and it looked like she was trying to put on a performance rather than staying connected with the emotions of her character. I would’ve loved to see her sing the karaoke song with a lot more vulnerability. But other than that, Emily Blunt was absolutely fantastic all throughout this movie, especially in the dialogue scene where she and Ryan Gosling are talking about their relationship.
I also loved the way Emily acted out the oner (one long continuous shot) that introduced her character after her big promotion. She was perfect all throughout for a 60-90 second shot with people coming up and talking to her while she’s having to figure out problem after problem. It gives the audience a real feel for what it’s like to be on a movie set. There’s a reason you don’t see a whole lot of oners that last for a minute or more. It takes a ton of talent, timing, and execution from a lot of people. You can’t cut and splice shots together. Everything has to be choreographed perfectly and they did it twice in this movie in ways that were very entertaining and that really explained important aspects of the movie.
Interesting Note:
Emily Blunt used to struggle with a speech impediment—a stutter. She said, “The only way I could speak fluently was to be someone else.” Emily literally overcame her stutter through acting. Not only is she a terrific actress, but she’s inspirational to all those people out there who struggle with speech impediments by showing them they can work through their challenges and achieve their dreams.
It really feels like Emily Blunt was made for this role as she absolutely nailed it. It was a genuine pleasure to watch her perform at such a high level. I can’t wait to watch the next Emily Blunt movie.
Emily Blunt Performance Grade:
9.5 A Excellent
I honestly didn’t realize Aaron Taylor-Johnson was as good of an actor as he was in this movie. He got to play the role of the diva Megastar actor. He was fun, needy, powerful, powerless, all in the same character. I particularly enjoyed watching him in a scene near the end of the movie where he is in control. He played that scene great. There were a few minor things he missed during the movie, but overall, he gave a terrific performance that he should be proud of. It’ll be fun to watch him in many more movies to come.
Aaron Taylor-Johnson Performance Grade:
8.7 B+ Very Good
Hannah Waddingham got to play the powerful Movie Producer. To be honest, I’d never heard of her before this movie, but I was pleasantly surprised to see she is such a good actress. There was a really fun scene between her and Ryan Gosling early on where she’s explaining the basis of the movie. Her and Ryan go back and forth with some really good acting chemistry that makes the scene enjoyable to watch. There were a few times where she was less than convincing, but overall, she did a very good job.
Hannah Waddingham Performance Grade:
8.4 B+ Very Good
Knowing that Winston Duke was in the Black Panther movies, I thought playing the Stunt Coordinator would be an easy role for him, but it seemed like at times he was just coasting through it. Don’t get me wrong. There were times where he nailed his lines, but surprisingly, there were several times where he was average or even below average. I wonder if Winston couldn’t really connect with his character or what was going on. I hope he can find his character a little better for future roles.
Winston Duke Performance Grade:
5.8 C+ Slightly Above Average
Overall, there is a lot of very good acting in this movie. Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt both gave amazing performances. If you love to watch great acting, then this is the movie for you.
Acting Overall:
8.9 B+ Very Good
The plot in this movie is okay. It’s not super complex, but there are a few twists and turns that will catch most people off guard. They spent a lot of time doing unnecessary things in some of the action scenes that could have been better used making the plot more complex. It seems to me they focused a bit too much on the stunts and not quite enough on telling a great story. It’s strange to me that sometimes filmmakers forget that the whole purpose people are in the movie theater watching their movie is because they want to see a great story. The plot to this movie isn’t going to wow anyone.
Plot Grade:
5.5 C+ Slightly Above Average
This is where The Fall Guy shines. There is a lot of really good dialogue all throughout the movie, including one of my top 5 favorite dialogue scenes of all time. There are a few times where the dialogue does get a little over-the-top, but there are a lot of jokes that land and there’s a lot of good humor. The high-quality dialogue breathes life into the characters and gives the movie terrific individuality.
Dialogue Grade:
8.8 B+ Very Good
With an okay Plot and very good Dialogue, The Fall Guy is one of the better written movies so far this year.
Overall Writing Grade:
7.2 B Good
There is a lot of action in this movie, but it’s tough to grade because even though there are really cool aspects of action scenes all throughout the movie, unfortunately, there is way way too much punching, kicking, and hitting people with things. In a post-Avengers world, filmmakers really have to up the ante with action scenes. They need to bring a lot more creativity to action sequences. To just have a bunch of punching and kicking won’t do it for most people anymore.
That said, there are really cool car rolls and color explosions and other aspects of action in this movie that are very entertaining to watch. Plus, the stunt men and women all do an excellent job.
I’m giving the action a low score because there is way too much simple action, but don’t let that fool you into thinking all the action in this movie is dull.
Action Scenes Grade:
5.5 C+ Slightly Above Average
The film production company purchased several songs from professional artists that are really terrific and really add to the emotion of the movie. But the original music composed by Dominic Lewis is below average at best. It’s almost like they should’ve just gone with songs made by professional artists for the entire thing.
Music Grade:
5.8 C+ Slightly Above Average
This is a category you’ll rarely see me talk about, but since the entire movie is about stunt men and women, I figure I should take some time to talk about it. There are a lot of stunts in this movie that I thought were greenscreen and CGI but turned out to be real (stay after the movie finishes and watch during the credits). I was shocked they would do so many real stunts, mostly because you really endanger people’s lives. But the fact that those men and women were so brave is really incredible to me and I’m glad everyone was okay. Stunt men and women made this movie a whole lot more exciting and they had a major positive impact on this movie. The stunts the stunt performers did in this movie are in the top tier of stunts. I wouldn’t say they are the very best, but they are quite good.
To see the Youtube video from GQ (which includes Ryan Gosling) on how the stunt performers did the stunts in The Fall Guy, click here.
Stunt Performers Grade:
9.0 A Excellent
There was a lot of excellent cinematography in this movie. I had two favorite shots:
1) The first was a oner (one long continuous shot without any cuts) that lasted maybe 60-90 seconds at the beginning of the movie to introduce Ryan Gosling’s character. It was a really incredible shot as he’s walking all throughout the set, talking to people, introducing their characters, all with a good amount of humor while giving you a feel for what it might be like to be on a movie set. It was a spectacular shot and ends in a way that you don’t really expect.
2)My other favorite shot was when Colt (Ryan Gosling’s character) goes to look for Tom (Aaron Taylor-Johnson). Gosling’s stunt double gets out of his truck then jumps from the truck onto a hanging ladder then scales the ladder and jumps onto a second or third story balcony. It looks like the camera is on a 200-foot crane and it pulls higher and higher as the stunt double is moving fluidly upward. To get a shot that high, you would almost assume it’s a drone, but the shot moves so fluidly which is why I think it’s a super-high crane. It’s a spectacular shot. Thank you, Jonathan Sela.
I also enjoyed the oner of Emily Blunt when we see her for the first time after she receives a big promotion.
Of course, there are a lot of great shots during the action scenes too. All around, this movie was a visual feast.
Cinematography Grade:
9.5 A Excellent
One of the coolest things about this movie is that the Director, David Leitch, used to be a stunt man. Talk about moving up in Hollywood. I’m sure all the stunt men and women had a lot of respect for him and I bet he felt like he has the credentials to put them through whatever he needed to in order to make the movie be as good as it can be.
Also, I loved the two oners (single long continuous shot)—the one that introduces Colt (Ryan’s character) and the one that introduces Jody (Emily’s character) after her big promotion. The camera movement was flawless. It must have taken a ton of time to choreograph both of those shots and to get down the timing and execution of every single person in both shots. That was some terrific directing!
Furthermore, I thought the split-screen shot with Ryan and Emily on the phone was really cool. It showed how similar they are but that there’s still distance between them. It was very creative and very fun to watch and both Ryan and Emily acted out their parts extremely well during the phone call.
An important part of directing is finding new or interesting ways to present the story. David Leitch definitely did that in this movie.
With the acting being very good and the cinematography being excellent, David Leitch did a good job of directing this movie. But I would’ve like to see a lot less punching and kicking, etc. and change those scenes into bigger action scenes or switch it out for time spent making the plot more creative.
Directing Grade:
8.2 B+ Very Good
There are a lot of S words, one F word, some crude language, several other cuss words and no sex scenes.
There is a lot to love about this movie: the acting, the dialogue, the cinematography, some of the music, and some of the action. While at the same time, some of the action could be significantly improved and the plot could be much more complex. Overall, The Fall Guy is a good movie.
The Fall Guy Overall Grade:
7.2 B- Good
The Fall Guy is a fun movie that most people will enjoy.
SEE IT
Adrian Harris is a writer, author, and business owner. He hopes to soon open his own movie studio and become a movie producer, director, and actor. Read Adrian’s Bio.
Adrian Harris is a writer, author, and business owner. He hopes to soon open his own movie studio and become a movie producer, director, and actor. Read Adrian’s Bio.
*Comedy Short Story
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