Regardless of the title emphasizing motion and spectacle, a lot of The Fall Man’s success hinges on the casting of Gosling and Blunt, who’re once more chic. Each charismatic performers know find out how to banter and appear desperate to recreate previous Hollywood rom-com strategies of their scenes collectively, be it in Colt and Jody’s screwball-adjacent patter when arguing over how the ultimate scene of the movie-within-a-movie ought to go or by way of a wild callback to Rock Hudson and Doris Day’s Pillow Discuss, of all issues. When the 2 debate on the telephone the deserves of utilizing split-screen storytelling, The Fall Man does precisely that, solely Blunt’s director is dressed as an alien whereas getting pensive about romance.
The film is clearly smitten with a century’s value of Hollywood gimmicks and gags, and makes use of the movie’s meta-quality to telegraph in vibrant neon each final fragment of self-aware irony that’s indulged. There’s a model of this film that would simply be grating or too happy with itself, however it’s the leads’ performances that enable all the within baseball bits to sing somewhat than flounder. It additionally lets the movie skate over what in any other case can be dicey territory, resembling when Jody as a girl director spends Colt’s first day on set tormenting him with a stunt the place he’ll be set on hearth constantly. Blunt and Gosling deal with the bickering with simply sufficient playfulness to keep away from apparent problematic crimson flags. As an alternative their quarrels are principally somewhat endearing.
That endearment is additional buoyed by the stunt work that has lengthy been director Leitch’s calling card. A famed stuntman himself earlier than transitioning to directing, Leitch’s motion pictures have a uniformly kinetic power, even after they’re careening off the rails like Bullet Practice. The Fall Man festivals higher attributable to its much less formidable narrative raise, and since the stunt work continues to be on level. The helmer is ready to even persuade Gosling to do real-life terrors like falling from a 30-story constructing or be set on hearth. Nevertheless, it’s when the actual stunt professionals take over that The Fall Man actually exhibits off.
These qualities are what make the movie’s occasional arduous pivots to visible results a bit jarring. Whereas the movie undoubtedly wins some laughs spoofing the latest Dunephenomenon in its fictional film-within-a-film, “Metalstorm,” in addition to how the significance of a set-piece is measured within the business by whether or not it’s “Corridor H” worthy or not, there’s nonetheless a stunning quantity of blue display screen work and digital trickery in The Fall Man. A 3rd act climax, which clearly befell on a soundstage the place huge identify actors tumble round a stationary helicopter, feels notably anticlimactic given the movie’s title. The precise plot mechanics are likewise shaggy, with the third act revelations of the narrative’s overriding thriller falling limp.
However then, few would accuse The Fall Man of being “a plot film.” As Colt Seavers may say, that is about doing “some Jason Bourne shit” after which vibing with two bubbly film stars as they riff about what sort of margaritas they’d wish to drink on karaoke evening. It’s a vibe studio blockbusters may use extra of lately.
The Fall Man premiered on the SXSW Movie Competition on March 12. It opens in theaters on Might 3.
