David Leitch directs Ryan Gosling, Emily Blunt and Hannah Waddingham in this action romantic comedy inspired by the TV show where a stuntman solves mysteries.

Watched in a shopping mall multiplex in Istanbul… with an advertisement break in the middle of the movie. I’m gonna put my flag in the ground and say “Meta-Movies” started as a sub genre with Hudson Hawk. Met their giddy heights early with Scream and now we live in a land of self aware overkill thanks to Deadpool. Hudson Hawk had a running joke where Bruce Willis could never enjoy his coffee. The Fall Guy replicates that… is it a nod or an unconscious lift? Why does the blockbuster movie production that will make or break Blunt’s fledgling director’s career look so lame? Is that intentional? And why… when Gosling and Blunt clearly have such sizzling chemistry… are they kept apart for three whole set pieces in the middle act? The stand out ‘skip dragged by truck’ chase sequence is interrupted pointlessly by a karaoke crosscut AND has a randomly introduced character sitting where Blunt’s Jody should obviously be?! Did they not want the bigger star to be a damsel who needs rescuing? Was Blunt unable to take part in the slam bang for medical reasons? Did someone seriously think the karaoke gag aided the flow of the big kinetic spectacle? For the first 45 minutes The Fall Guy is near flawless bubblegum entertainment. Charming, funny, colourful, amazing practical stunts. But then it just kinda stays ON and becomes a bit forgettable, tiring. Third act problems are a running joke among the characters but that doesn’t excuse not nailing it during an incoherent destruction derby. Like many a starry May blockbuster of old it can never quite lives up to the trailer. The Fall Guy fulfils its brief (especially as a tribute to stunt teams) but I think we all would have preferred it if Gosling instead cashed in his Barbie bankability by trying to do a Nice Guys 2 with these stunts and this budget.

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Perfect Double Bill: The Nice Guys (2016)

I write regular features about live comedy for British Comedy Guide here https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/bobby_carroll/features/