2.5 stars out of 5
Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt are delightful in this. I want Gosling to leave Eva Mendes and Blunt to leave John Krasinski and I want Gosling and Blunt to get married. As a wedding gift, I want them to be cast in a much, much better movie than this piece of crap.
Nostalgia bait-and-switch warning: The movie borrows the title of the old Fall Guy series, and its stuntman–battles-baddies conceit, and the names “Colt Seavers” and “Jody,” but that’s it. No other connection. They even significantly alter the theme-song lyrics to eliminate dated references. Aw come on!!
Still, I was enjoying the movie in the early going, I really was. It was fun, funny, light, and Blusling (huh? maybe??) are a rom-com pairing sent from heaven. So what happened? Maybe the producers couldn’t afford any other decent actors. You get an inkling of this in the beginning — why is Gosling the stunt double for someone he’s much more handsome and charismatic than? And Hannah Waddingham, you are a TV actress, not a movie star, sorry. No one else remotely stands out.
As the plot piles on (star of Blunt’s directorial debut disappears, Ted Lasso lady sends stuntman Gosling to find him, mayhem ensues and he still loves Blunt), the movie gets worse and worse. Just generic stunts and chases and fights and explosions etc. etc. etc. when all we want is Gosling and Blunt, who are stupidly very often not in the same scene.
Another warning: If you do see this (your flight is stuck on the tarmac or some other nothing-to-do situation), and are in my general age range, I strongly recommend not staying for the extra scene in the credits. It will only depress you further.
being underrated is overrated
Jack Silbert, curator