This is kind of starting at the end here but I need to set the scene: I walked out of this movie, a fun action-comedy-romance, at 10:30pm and it was still warm out. All of those factors together can only mean one thing: summer is here! If you know me, you know nothing makes me happier than that. Everything about this movie and my moviegoing experience felt like summer in the best way possible. I honestly think this movie would have worked even better if it came out in July because this is the perfect movie to go see in an air-conditioned theater on a hot summer night after spending the day at the pool or the beach. The cold air feels good on your new sunburn, you get your popcorn and candy, and you turn off your brain a little bit for a mixture of laughs, action, and romance. Truly what could be better?

But let me backtrack a little bit. Besides being the epitome of a summer blockbuster, The Fall Guy is just a really fun and charming movie. It is 2 hours of a good time. I said it before, but this movie really is an action-comedy-romance and provides all three in equal parts. Ryan Gosling is at peak Ryan Gosling, radiating charisma. It feels like after decades in the industry and playing multitudes of different types of roles across every genre, he has locked in on a persona that he’s really good at and that audiences want to see from him and now he’s just pretty much doing that in every movie and it works for me every time. I also love Emily Blunt and want more for her because she does have great comedic timing but once again she manages to still be fully engaging as more of the straight man with a slightly underdeveloped female character. They are both funny and have incredible chemistry together. And the action is thrilling and entertaining. It is pretty impressive the way the movie balances the different genres and blends them seamlessly together. The plot is honestly a little bit convoluted the more you think about it, but you don’t really need to think about it too much. It’s the kind of movie where you just enjoy the ride.

The Fall Guy is intentionally an ode to movies. Director David Leitch is a former stuntman and has always taken great care to showcase the craft in his work. But for this film, he overtly created a tribute to these performers. Not only does the movie show what goes into the job and how grueling it is through Ryan Gosling’s character who is a stuntman on films, but it also includes dialogue that calls out the fact that there are no Oscars for stunts, songs referencing stuntmen as “unsung heroes”, and the credits even include behind-the-scenes footage from the making of this film highlighting the real life stuntmen. All of the stunts in the movie do look great and it truly is insane what these people do (interestingly enough, the movie doesn’t really get into why these people choose a profession that involves risking your life for entertainment purposes. It doesn’t take away from the story to not include that element but I am just personally curious after seeing what they go through).

But the movie is also just a movie that loves movies (how many times can I say “movie”? Let’s find out). The Fall Guy is about making a movie (the movie they’re making, by the way, looks, and more distinctly sounds, so much like Dune, which is just funny and maybe intentional timing only months after the Dune: Part 2 release). We spend time on the set and watching them film feels like watching behind-the-scenes footage (something I have always loved to see). They have very meta conversations about crafting the film, like discussing the storytelling and what to do with the third act and a debate about the merits of split screens that is mirrored when a split screen actually appears. There is even some subtext about the dangers of AI as those fears creep quickly into Hollywood. The film is also laden with movie references, quotes, and namechecks, paying tribute to classics across all genres and further pulling in the movie lovers. So to really hit my quota here, this is a movie about movie-making, for and about movie lovers. 

They already had me with their ode to movies, but I knew this film was directly targeted towards me when the music of Taylor Swift played a critical role. In one scene, Ryan Gosling’s character, Colt, reminisces on his relationship with Emily Blunt’s character, Jody, while the song “All Too Well” plays over a montage of moments between the two of them. The scene then concludes with Colt sitting in his car, crying while listening to the song which is just so relatable and real. Big year for men listening to Taylor Swift in the car (think Richie from The Bear with “Love Story”) and I really think we need more of this. And by “we” I mean mostly me, but also society. Try it sometime, it’s healing. 

The film is based on an early 80s television show of the same name and it does, in a way, feel like a throwback. Not to the show, but to an old-school summer blockbuster, although the soundtrack does scream 80s in the best way. As fun as it was to see in a theater, I also think it’s the perfect movie to watch on your couch with your family or a group of friends on a summer night or even on a plane (I feel like people usually say this in a derogatory way but I don’t mean it that way at all). The Fall Guy has something for everyone and I think you would be hard pressed to not enjoy it.

2024 Count: 11 seasons/specials, 25 movies