David Leitch | Bouquets & Brickbats

05/04/24

Cineworld, Edinburgh

Those of us who have lived on this planet for a substantial number of years will probably have fond memories of the 80s TV series that inspired this film. I have little doubt that director (and former stunt man) David Leitch may himself have found inspiration in it for his own subsequent career. I have vague memories of Lee Majors as Colt Seavers, the guy who ‘makes Eastwood look so good,’ but I’d struggle to remember any storylines from the show.

Leitch’s reinvention is a romp, a big, audacious and sometimes hilarious movie that never hesitates to amp up the silliness of the concept. I can’t remember when I last laughed so much at a screening and I’ve been somewhat dismayed by the dour reviews from other critics who have dismissed the film – as though it has no right whatsoever to have fun. I completely disagree.

In this version, Seavers is played by Ryan Gosling, exuding that sleepy sensuality that has made him such a bankable star. Seavers is in recovery after a disastrous on-set accident and has since turned his (broken) back on the movie business. He now makes his living valeting cars instead of crashing them. He’s also ghosted his former lover, camera woman Jody Moreno (Emily Blunt), and is painfully aware that this was a big mistake.

Out of the blue, Colt gets a call from big-time film producer Gail Meyer (Hannah Waddingham), who wants him in Sydney, Australia to work on her latest would-be blockbuster, Metalstorm. Colt is initially reluctant to comply until he hears that the film in question is Jody’s directorial debut and that she has personally asked for his involvement. Spotting a chance to rekindle that botched relationship, Colt jumps aboard the first available plane.

Once there, Gail informs him that Jody hasn’t really asked for his presence at all – in fact she’s still pretty pissed off with him. The issue is that the film’s star, the egotistical Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), has gone missing and, without him, the project is as good as dead. Colt knows Tom well: he’s performed stunts for the actor for years. But his attempts to find him lead Colt down a perilous rabbit hole where everybody he encounters is trying to kill him…

Okay, so the plot wouldn’t win any prizes for originality, but writer Drew Pearce manages to keep the cinematic pot bubbling with inventive humour and there’s enough chemistry between Gosling and Blunt to make me care about how things turn out for the two of them. I love the scene where Jody makes Colt apologise for his past behaviour in front of the film’s massive cast – using a loud hailer. There’s also a very funny sequence where Colt is accompanied everywhere he goes by a unicorn. (Don’t ask.) Waddingham is terrific as the bombastic Gail and Taylor-Johnson (who also had a key role in Leitch’s last film, Bullet Train) manages to make Ryder more than just a cardboard cutout. Eagle-eyed viewers may spot David Collins of the Umbilical Brothers (one of our favourite acts at last year’s Edinburgh Fringe) in a small role as a camera technician. Oh and Metalstorm? I could be wrong, but I suspect that this weird looking alien/cowboy mash-up may be Leitch’s way of having a sly dig at (the admittedly po-faced) Dune.

And then, of course, there are the stunts, each one more elaborate and eye-popping than the last. The Fall Guy is, more than anything else, a celebration of the unsung stand-ins who risk life and limb every time they step in front of a movie camera. It’s no coincidence that in one conversation, Colt berates the fact that the Oscars still haven’t managed to offer a gong for the year’s most spectacular stunt, despite plenty of lobbying. That’s something that this film could just tip the balance for.

Naturally, there are obligatory walk-on roles for Lee Majors and his former sidekick, Heather Thomas, playing the least convincing Australian police officers in history. Well, it would be rude not to feature them somewhere, right? I could argue that the film might easily have lost half an hour in its running time and been a leaner, meaner beast, but – that said – I wouldn’t want to be the one to choose which bits to cut out. The Fall Guy is, quite simply, a whole ton of fun.

A series of clips over the end credits revealing how the action sequences were achieved adds yet another layer to the film. I sit there watching stunt players, doubling for actors, pretending to be stunt players. Let’s face it, that’s about as meta as you could reasonably ask for.

4.3 stars

Philip Caveney

22/08/17

All those idiots who perpetually bleat that there could never be a female James Bond might care to check this out. If there were any lingering doubts that Charlize Theron can convince as an ass-kicker after Mad Max: Fury Road, then this should dispel those notions completely. Here she plays MI6 agent, Louise Broughton, a kind of Jane Bond figure who apparently subsists on a diet of neat vodka-on-the-rocks and cigarettes, whilst rocking a series of 80s fashions and performing extreme chop socky moves to the strains of classic rock songs. (This is the second film this year to use Flock of Seagulls’ I Ran to excellent effect. Just sayin’).

It’s November 1989 and the Berlin Wall is about to take a permanent dive. Broughton is sent over to Berlin to team up with fellow agent, David Percival (James McAvoy), a man who presents such a dodgy persona, it’s a wonder he can find his own reflection in a mirror. Somebody – Code Name ‘Satchel’ – has procured a list of British agents and their nefarious dealings during the Cold War, a list so incendiary that it mustn’t be allowed to fall into enemy hands. Broughton’s job is to find the list (and hopefully Satchel) and bring them both back to Blighty. But it isn’t an easy task when she can’t trust anybody…

What this basically boils down to is an excuse for a series of bruising action sequences, in which Broughton takes down what seems like a whole army of men, using any weapons at her disposal – a stiletto heel, a frying pan, a bunch of keys – she’s not fussy, she’ll employ anything that comes to hand. The highlight here is a long fight scene on a staircase. Shot in a continuous take, it sets the bar high for pain and punishment and there’s no doubt that director David Leitch, fresh off John Wick: Chapter Two, knows how to stage a convincing punch-up. I loved the fact that people don’t emerge from one of these skirmishes with a polite spot of blood at the side of their mouth, as we so often witness in this kind of film – no, we regularly see Broughton’s bruised and swollen face and limbs and we quite understand her habit of taking occasional ice baths.

Rather less successful, however, is the plot, which is so labyrinthine as to defy all understanding. Virtually every character we meet is double-crossing somebody else or working for somebody else or pretending to be somebody else. By the conclusion, I thought I had a handle on most of it but I wouldn’t want to testify to it in court – or indeed, in the kind of rigorous debriefing that is used as the framework for Atomic Blonde. There are excellent supporting roles from the likes of Toby Jones, Eddie Marsan and John Goodman, as various men in suits, but this is undeniably a showcase for Theron’s star power and she makes the most of it.

A simpler plot would certainly have made this a better film, overall, but action junkies will love the fights and I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t find them thrilling. If Leitch can marry those superior action chops to a simpler, more convincing storyline, who knows what might be achieved? Here, he manages to win on points rather than achieving a knockout blow. But it’s certainly worth the price of a ringside seat.

3.5 stars

Philip Caveney