When it comes to the domestic release schedule, the first weekend of May is generally seen as the beginning of the summer box office season. These are the months during which studios release the movies with their biggest budgets and expect even bigger box office returns. And ever since 2007, not counting the Covid summers of 2020 and 2021, this weekend has essentially been reserved for comic book movies. Even Infinity War and Endgame being released the week before summer starting was a non-issue, as both films still dominated their second weekend. However, with the strikes delaying several studio releases and the reshuffling of schedules, the first comic book movie of summer 2024 will not release until this July, leaving this weekend wide open.
Snapping up the major tentpole spot is David Leitch’s The Fall Guy, which opens this Friday. Loosely based on a television show of the same name from the 80s, The Fall Guy follows Hollywood stuntman Colt Seaver (Ryan Gosling) who finds himself on the set of a new action film that is being directed by an old flame, Jody Moreno (Emily Blunt). When the star of the film Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) suddenly goes missing, Colt is tasked with finding and returning him to the set, but finds himself pulled into a conspiracy far beyond the set. All throughout, Colt and Jody find themselves wanting to rekindle their relationship, but also keep it professional.
David Leitch is undoubtedly one of the best action directors working today. Even in his films that are weaker in other departments, there is so much cleverness, humor, excitement, and care put into every major sequence. The nature of the film allows for so much of the action to be practical, and there’s an added level of excitement knowing that what’s on screen was created by humans and not computers. Even when CGI is used, it’s never overbearing and it’s used as a companion to the practical effects, not as a replacement. The direction is also incredibly well done in non-action beats; there are several oners throughout that are just as well-choreographed and precise as the fights. However, it’s not done in a flashy manner that begs for the direction to be noticed, which smartly allows for the audience to become invested in the story and characters. It’s the kind of thing that one realizes later and becomes even more impressed by when looking back on the movie.
Where this film is significantly stronger than some of Leitch’s other outings is its emotional through-line. Yes, the action is a spectacle to behold, but the relationship between Colt and Jody is what holds the film together. Gosling and Blunt have insanely good chemistry, and The Fall Guy smartly incorporates at least a conversation between the two in ways that other films might not have. Additionally, the film works in several meta angles of filmmaking and Hollywood storytelling, but does not limit them to just the screenplay. There are jokes in the editing, the cinematography, even in the sound design. Some of them are a little bit overbearing, particularly one running joke about the third act, but for the most part they add a really nice extra layer of humor to the film.
The supporting cast is also quite excellent. Something that Leitch has always been good at is building out a strong ensemble without them taking too much attention away from the lead or leads. Hannah Waddingham chews the scenery like nobody’s business as the film’s producer who’s ironically more concerned with the star than the budget, Winston Duke is great as the head of the stunt department on the film, Taylor-Johnson as Tom Ryder, an actor who prides himself on “doing his own stunts,” is quite funny, and Oscar-nominee Stephanie Hsu shows up for one scene as Ryder’s assistant Alma. More than any other character, hers is one that it would have been nice to have seen more of, but that might also just be because Hsu is in her own stratosphere of charisma and likability. The rotating door of characters that show up and disappear might annoy some viewers, but it keeps the film on track and centered on Colt.
If there’s anything to dislike about The Fall Guy, the script is not always the strongest, and it admittedly does take a little while to really get going. Most of the story beats are fairly predictable, but it does feel as though the movie almost wants the viewer to predict them. Anyone who has seen an action movie can guess where this is going to go, and The Fall Guy isn’t concerned with reinventing the wheel knows that, so it lays everything out for the audience so that they can appreciate the other aspects of the film. The first third of the film is a bit slow to set everything up, but once the club sequence gets going, it’s nonstop popcorn entertainment.
In many ways, The Fall Guy feels like the perfect movie to open up the summer. It’s a great two hours in the theater for anyone, whether they’re looking for a good action movie, some fun romance, or especially just needing to completely shut their brain off for two hours. But it’s also a real celebration of the things that make movies great, and it’s a reminder of how important every department is to making a final product. And in a year that’s coming on the heels of two of the longest strikes in Hollywood history, reinforcing that message is more crucial than ever.
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