Stunt row seat
■ THE Barbenheimer rivalry of last summer is laid to rest in The Fall Guy with the delightfully Kenergetic on-screen pairing of Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt as ex-lovers who realise pride and bruised egos come before a trust fall into each other’s arms.
Stunt performer-turned-director David Leitch’s crowd-pleasing action comedy pays affectionate tribute to the early 1980s TV show starring Lee Majors as a film stuntman who side-hustles as a bounty hunter using daredevil skills he has honed in front of the camera.
Gosling bravely plummets 12 storeys in the bravura opening sequence, shot in a single take to shepherd us through the organised chaos of a movie set.
He plays stuntman Colt Seavers, who abruptly severs ties with the film industry after breaking his back while performing a daredevil fall in place of Hollywood action star Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson).
Powerhouse producer Gail Meyer (Hannah Waddingham) coaxes Colt out of retirement to double for Ryder in the bombastic sci-fi epic Metalstorm.
The production is dangerously over-budget, behind schedule and just happens to be the directorial debut of Colt’s old flame Jody Moreno (Blunt).
Screenwriter Drew Pearce keeps the central duo apart for prolonged periods, which is a misstep, and he peppers the script with in-jokes about Hollywood and its profit-driven practices, particularly in the irreverent depiction of Taylor-Johnson’s action star whose list of high-octane credits includes Annihilation Of Valour and Bad Cop, Good Dog.
Stunts are breathtaking, such as performer Logan Holladay’s world record-breaking 8.5 cannon rolls in a car and a dizzying fight inside a spinning metal skip being dragged behind a lorry through the streets of Sydney.
Ultimately, The Fall Guy is a slave to two demanding masters (adrenaline-pumping action and goofy romance) but doesn’t completely satisfy either.