Fall Guy - Quick Movie Review
To tell you the truth I haven’t seen an episode of the Fall Guy TV series since the 80’s but have a vague familiarity memory of it. In that show, the great Lee Majors plays a full time stunt man and a part time bounty hunter. This ain’t that. Yes, it’s got some references to the original starring Lee majors and the wonderful Heather Thomas. I tried finding it on one of the many streaming services we employ, but it looks like it is only available for purchase right now. This movie is like the lost grandchild of that show.
Not that that is a bad thing at all, just the expectations I had were for something different. The TV show is simply a sparking jump off point with a few references, not a remake. At the heart of the movie is a love story and a good and modern one at that. The movie Majors has screwed up his love life due to a failure he thinks he made, and, like a lot of dudes, retreated into himself and ghosted his love. Can he find redemption in love and foil the bad guys by the credits? Is there any doubt? It is Hollywood, after all. You’ll figure out who the bad guys are pretty quick.
The actors are all fantastic in their roles especially the leads. Blunt plays a strong yet vulnerable character who has a good time getting a little bit of revenge, and Gosling uses a little of his “Ken” mode from the Barbie movie to play a cool and manly Colt Seavers. All the actors did a good job (felt the great Hannah Waddington was under used) but there may have been a few too many of them and a couple reduced roles might have made the film flow better. Also, the pacing seemed a little…off in the 2+ hour run time, like they had a lot of ideas to fit in and some scenes and scenarios just take a little too long to get there.
Soundtrack was good, with highlights being Taylor Swift’s “All Too Well” and KISS’s “I Was Made for Loving You” at the perfect time for a perfect fit. The expected cameos were fun, but totally expected them to be earlier in the movie. Definitely stay through the midway credits!
Overall, a solid B. Do you need to see on the big screen? There are a couple of cool stunts that may be enhanced by the big screen, but if you have a good-sized TV, you could probably wait. Taking the kids: no nudity, little bit of swearing, lots of punches thrown, car chases, that kind of thing, and one dead body.
