Review: The Fall Guy

The Fall Guy is a reboot of an old TV series about stunt men which benefits from three suddenly very hot stars - Emily Blunt (Oppenheimer), Hannah Waddingham (TV's Ted Lasso) and particularly Ryan Gosling (Barbie).Watch the trailer: The Fall GuyBack in the bad old days of American network TV, primetime was occupied by routine, escapist fare provided by hucksters like Quinn Martin, Aaron Spelling and Glen A Larsen. Larsen alone was responsible for Magnum PI, Knight Rider, Buck Rogers and the eminently forgettable Fall Guy.The Fall Guy featured Lee Majors as a stuntman. With only a limited number of plots available for someone being hit and falling off things on a film set, he also doubled as a bounty hunter on the side. Astonishingly for such a thin premise, the TV series lasted several years. Hence the remake, we assume.In fact, the back-story behind this Fall Guy is more interesting than the film itself. It's the passion project of stuntman-turned-director David Leitch, whose career was launched by stunt-heavy hit movies such as John Wick, Atomic Blonde and Bullet Train. And it certainly lucked out with its two stars Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt.Gosling has received all the star-making publicity - Barbie, La La Land, Blade Runner 2049. But Blunt's no slouch either. For many, she was the best thing in Oppenheimer, doing the same scene-stealing trick she pulled off in The Devil Wears Prada and Edge of Tomorrow.And throw in another long-time-coming, overnight success, Ted Lasso's Hannah Waddingham as a dodgy film producer, and The Fall Guy's already off to a flying start. So long as the script doesn't get in the way, what can possibly go wrong?Now, people familiar with At The Movies will probably expect me to now point out that everything does in fact go wrong with The Fall Guy. That it doesn't is entirely due to the charm, the chops and the sheer charisma of the two stars. We meet stuntman Colt Seavers -Gosling - happily taking the blows for superstar Tom Ryder, played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson.Taylor-Johnson is currently tipped to be the next James Bond. Not on the strength of The Fall Guy, it has to be said. He barely registers at all.Anyway, stuntman Colt is madly in love with director Jody, played by Blunt.Then something terrible happens. A stunt goes wrong, Colt's laid out for months, during which time he cuts himself off from Jody. She's understandably miffed, and more so when he comes out of retirement for her new movie.Turns out Colt thought Jody had hired him, with a view to getting back together. …Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details