The Fall Guy came out a couple weeks ago and it’s an absolute blast, a movie that couches its stuntman-based hijinks with a surprisingly solid romcom. Its impressively robust plot and charming characters is all gravy, though, because ultimately, The Fall Guy’s is the stunt-equivalent of a jukebox musical.
Hear me out. The Fall Guy isn’t trying to blaze forward with new and inventive stunt work — John Wick this is not — instead it’s quite consciously trying to hit the highs of very familiar set pieces. There are car rolls, there’s someone getting smacked through a glass wall, there is, of course, falling from heights. They all make sense in the story, but it’s not at all unlike how Mamma Mia! finds a way to make sure we get “Money, Money, Money,” “Dancing Queen,” and “Super Trouper,” no matter how thin the relation. Mamma Mia! wasn’t trying to be an innovative new musical, it’s a fairly straightforward story that exists to justify singing a bunch of ABBA songs. Is this bad? Not at all! ABBA’s great!
Mamma Mia! still works even if you’re not a huge ABBA fan, insofar as it’s still a fun story with catchy songs. Similarly, The Fall Guy isn’t reliant on you clocking what each stunt is, it’s still a great movie where you can let the impressive stunts wash over you. But just like how Mamma Mia!’s plot is there to justify the songs, much of the twists and turns in The Fall Guy are there to make sure we get to hit all those stunts we know and love — and a few extra ones too.
Stunts are an intrinsic part of movies — and they have been since the days when Buster Keaton was perching on a train’s cow catcher. The Fall Guy pulls focus to how familiar we are with them and the work that goes into pulling them off safely. A glass bottle being smashed over someone’s head might not be as catchy as “Take A Chance On Me,” but there’s no denying it fits into the same niche in this movie as that song did in Mamma Mia!. All this to say, The Fall Guy is a great movie with a really fun story that lets it play the hits of stunt work.
Essays, Not Rants! 