In 1981, ABC debuted The Fall Guy which starred Lee Majors as Colt Seavers and Heather Thomas as Jody Banks. The plot revolved around a guy (and sometimes a gal) who not only worked as a stunt man, (and stuntwoman) but also worked as a bounty hunter. It was modest hit debuting at the 27th spot, moving up to the #14th spot the second season. By the fifth and final season, The Fall Guy fell to the #80th spot. It wasn’t until 2007 before 20th Century Fox released a DVD set of the first two seasons of the show. It’s one of those shows that has mostly faded from people’s memory.
In 2024, Universal Pictures has released The Fall Guy movie. Loosely based on the TV series, Colt (Ryan Gosling) is a stuntman (but not a bounty hunter), and Jody (Emily Blunt) is Colt’s girlfriend and aspiring film director. And that is pretty much as close as it gets to the original storyline, but the movie version plays a lot better. Despite the fact that the movie is over-the-top all the way through, this comedy/adventure/mystery/romance film is a lot of fun.
In this version of the story, Colt Seavers works as a stunt double for the arrogant superstar, Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) who gives off the image that he performs his own stunts. His chief complaint on set is that too much of Colt’s face keeps getting shown during his shots. His producer, Gail Meyer (Hannah Waddingham) is a slippery one who is constantly nursing a Diet Coke on set. Coat doesn’t really care. He’s in love with Jody and the two flirt back and forth over the radio. It’s actually pretty charming. And then…Colt gets seriously hurt and seemingly says goodbye to his film career working as a valet for a Mexican restaurant. It’s as close as his get to racing cars.
About a year and a half later, Colt gets a call from Gail offering him a job to once again stand in for Tom Ryder for the new science fiction romance movie, Metalstorm set in Australia. He isn’t interested until he learns that Jody is the director and that she asked for him personally. Maybe. Then, while on the set, Colt learns from Gail that Tom has is missing and has gotten himself involved in the wrong crowd. She asks him for his help in finding Tom before Jody finds out. The movie also stars Winston Duke as Colt’s film-quoting stunt coordinator, Teresa Palmer as Tom’s co-star and girlfriend and Stephanie Hsu as Tom’s personal assistant.
It may not be all that realistic, but The Fall Guy does give audiences a little insight into moviemaking. Director David Leitch is a former stuntman and stunt coordinator himself, so he knows little bit about the trade. Meanwhile, Drew Pearce has written scripts for other action films like Iron Man 3, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation and Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw. The two make a good pair.
Thanks to the PG-13 rating, The Fall Guy is very funny without being crass (or not much anyway). Gosling and Blunt playfully spar with each other with wit and come off as a balanced team. Their drive is more powerful than their confidence and neither one is weaker than the other. Waddingham’s Gail Meyer is nothing like Rebecca Welton from Ted Lasso and that’s excellent.
Since the source material is taken from and early 80’s TV series, this movie naturally appeals to people who remember the show when it first aired. That might explain the numerous callbacks to older movies like Pretty Woman, and even 1959’s Pillow Talk with Rock Hudson and Doris Day. There are direct references to TV shows like Miami Vice and The Six Million Dollar Man too. However, this movie isn’t stuck in the 80’s nostalgia either. It will appeal to all ages. And stick around during the credits to see more footage from the actual stunts done for the movie.
The plot of The Fall Guy does take a backseat to the non-stop action and that’s just fine. It really is a movie about stuntman and incredible stunts. Simply put, if you like that sort of thing, then this is your movie. With that said, some scenes play out way too long in order to show you everything that they’ve got. (Fun fact: The movie is known for setting a Guinness World Record for the most cannon rolls performed in a car.) The movie’s run time is long too and the endless variations of Yungblud’s version of KISS’s “I Was Made foe Lovin’ You” is a bit much.
All in all, though, this movie is not only worth watching, but also watching in the theater rather than your living room. So, while The Fall Guy isn’t completely original, it will suffice. There is a lot of directions the story could go for second and third chapters too. So, say hello to Hollywood’s next big movie franchise.
Main image: Universal Pictures
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