Review: ‘The Fall Guy’ is the lighthearted summer blockbuster we all needed

In an era where movie theaters are flooded with remakes, sequels and a rising tide of music biopics, “The Fall Guy” is delightfully refreshing.

It’s not gunning for an Oscar. It doesn’t preach profound messages. “The Fall Guy” is everything we needed it to be and nothing more. And that is what makes it the perfect summer blockbuster.

The action-comedy-romance movie puts plot in the back seat, but makes up for it through Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt’s charisma, an abundance of explosives, a classic rock soundtrack and will-they-won’t-they romantic tension.

Is it ridiculous? Sure. But it provides the escapism that made Hollywood a billion-dollar industry.

Loosely based on the early-’80s television show of the same name, “The Fall Guy” spotlights the essential behind-the-scenes work of stuntmen and stuntwomen.

Hollywood’s finest stuntman Colt Seavers (Gosling) is not in the business of playing it safe. He routinely gets lit on fire, launched at walls, punched, kicked and thrown off buildings. It’s all part of his thankless job as stuntman for self-important movie star Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), who frequently reminds filmmakers they must help uphold the lie that he “does his own stunts.”

When a stunt that sends Colt plummeting from a high-rise building goes awry, he gets critically injured. Colt abandons his stuntman career and a burgeoning relationship with Jody (Blunt), a filmmaker he met on set.

A year later, still thrown off by his accident, Colt has evolved into a semi-recluse and works nights parking cars as a valet. His days as a stuntman are over.

Until he gets a call from big-wig film producer Gail Meyer (Hannah Waddingham). Jody is making her directorial debut out of her sci-fi epic “Metalstorm” and needs Colt as her stuntman. He reluctantly takes up the opportunity in a last-ditch effort to reunite with Jody.

Once on set, Colt is smacked with a rude awakening: Jody did not ask for his help and does not want him there. Gail informs Colt of the real reason she asked for him to come. Tom Ryder, the leading man of “Metalstorm” has disappeared and she needs Colt to find him.

He embarks on mission — heavy on the stunts and explosives — to hunt down Tom and save Jody’s movie.

Stunt guys are there to make the movie stars look cool. “You don’t know they’re there, and that’s the job,” Colt explains.

They are the unsung heroes of blockbuster action movies. “The Fall Guy” pulls the curtain back on the mechanics of stunts and sings the praises of the stunt people.

You’ll see Ryan Gosling — more likely one of his stunt doubles Ben Jenkin or Justin Eaton — set on fire, thrown from boats, buildings, staircases and rolled in cars. It’s a lot of fun.

Don’t go into “The Fall Guy” anticipating it throw you into an existential tailspin. That’s not what this movie is about. It’s there to entertain and pair perfectly with a ice-cold soda and a barrel of popcorn.

Watch: Trailer for ‘The Fall Guy’

“The Fall Guy” comes to theaters nationwide on Friday, May 3, 2024. It is rated PG-13 for some language, action, violence and some drug content.