The Fall Guy Review - David Leitch Has Just Made His "Tees Maar Khan"

The Fall Guy Review: David Leitch and Ryan Gosling flash on the screen in the very first frame and pay their homage to all the stuntmen who do the "real job." But does that all matter when the movie starts or ends? No. With The Fall Guy, David Leitch falls again. Back in 2022, he put a bullet in my brain and busted it with Bullet Train, and now I just witnessed my creative fallback as his viewer. "It's high noon on the edge of the universe"—Thank god, Fred Zinnemann and Gary Cooper are not alive to see the "High Noon" word being used parodically like this. You don't have to love Notting Hill just because someone says so. Slap me for saying this, but I guess Leitch has cooked a mixed dish of Star Wars and Dune meeting Notting Hill to get the results of Tees Maar Khan.Colt Seavers (Ryan Gosling) is one of the best stuntmen in Hollywood, and he primarily works as the stunt double for a famous action star, Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson). One day, he gets severely injured while performing a "jump from high" stunt and quits the job. Colt quits his girlfriend, Jody (Emily Blunt), and abandons himself from social life and friends because he thinks that he is not special anymore. Cut to 18 months later, the same movie producer calls him and asks him to rejoin as a stuntman for a movie directed by his ex-girlfriend. To make things up with his ex, Colt comes back, and there begins a boring drama of two lovers trying to rekindle their lost romance. Halfway through, the boredom gets over as Colts finds himself stuck in the middle of a conspiracy, and now he must find a getaway to clean his name from this mess.Just like Bullet Train, The Fall Guy also uses absurdity as the main tool for comedy and somewhat succeeds in it. It's the yawning romance that puts you to sleep, and you are like, "Come on, get over it. Let the film move forward." Even I asked myself, "Why didn't Leitch use absurdity in romance?". Imagine two lovers meeting after one and a half years, and the next moment they are back to the old days, hugging and kissing each other. This way, he could have made a comic caper or that old-school screwball rom-com, but no. He had to be stubborn enough to destroy his own film with a boring romance. The "happy ending" shit ain't working anymore if the director himself isn't looking for other options. The Fall Guy lacks creative ideas in the script, but more harmful is the childish plotting in the second half that causes a big-blow extinction of your expectations. What happens in the last 30 minutes is totally out of context, totally rubbish, and highly irritating. Some extraordinary stunts are eye-pleasing, and a few comic punches hit the right chords. That "John and Amber" joke didn't get noisy laughs in the cinema hall, but I was cracked up alright. Maybe it went over the head for others. There are a couple of more instances like this that are too smart to catch, but otherwise, it's just a fairly entertaining comedy—nothing great.Ryan Gosling plays a handsome fella who has every quality of a perfect boyfriend. The swag and looks have tremendous sex appeal, but the comedy part isn't that good from his side. Emily Blunt's accent wasn't appropriate, even though she felt innocent and cute with it on some occasions. Her chemistry with Ryan doesn't spark the screen, and that's the saddest part about this pairing. Those desperate, long conversations were only causing small headache attacks. Aaron Taylor-Johnson's cool and swaggery superstar was fairly good, but the role was cut short. The typical funny-friend-of-the-hero is played very well by Winston Duke, whereas Hannah Waddingham makes her presence felt strongly. Teresa Palmer, Stephanie Hsu, and the other supporting cast members didn't seem very visible here.Watching the TV series The Fall Guy back in the 80s must have been a different experience, but for today, it's definitely outdated. With someone like David Lietch, who doesn't believe in intelligent cinema, it becomes even more problematic. The idea of absurd comedy works fine with today's youth, but there has to be some merit to it. Using some movie titles, star names, and PJ won't bring genuine laughter. The Fall Guy couldn't overcome its thin plot and dead screenplay, and moreover, David Lietch Touch (not similar to Lubitsch Touch for sure) makes it fall lower. Despite good efforts by the stunt, action, VFX, and camera teams, The Fall Guy fails to provide enough. Eight and a half rolls are always welcome, but we need a two and a half-star storyline as well. Overall, it's another dead game by David Leitch after Bullet Train, and I wish he finds some good air next time. Nobody hated him as a producer of "Nobody," but I hope, fast and furiously, he will find his High Noon and stay away from Tees Maar Khan.