The Fall Guy

"The Fall Guy" is a great name for a thing. I watched the TV show when I was 9-14 years old. This was the era of action TV for kids and adults, and the hero had to have a super-cool name and an iconic vehicle. Michael Knight had his Firebird, Magnum had his Ferrari, Sonny Crockett had two different Ferraris, The A-Team had that bitchin' van...was it Hardcastle or McCormick that drove that orange kit car? Colt Seavers had a (I looked this up) Rounded-Line 1981 GMC K-2500 Wideside with the Sierra Grande equipment package. Did Matt Houston have a car? Remington Steele?

I watched al these shows. All of them (except the last two) have been rebooted for TV or movies. The Fall Guy is the one I remember the least about. All I remember is the truck, former Six Million Dollar Man Lee Majors, and Heather Thomas' bikini poster.

If they want to make an action comedy about stuntmen getting into real world trouble, I have no problem with the studio leveraging nostalgia for this old show. Besides, it's a cool title.

Exciting and funny, this action comedy is directed by David Leitch, a name I can't seem to remember despite seeing and liking three of his features already: Atomic Blonde (Charlize kicks ass!), Deadpool 2 (sometimes more of the same is good!) and Bullet Train (three-quarters as clever as it thinks it is). 

The Fall Guy is bumped up a full letter grade to A-minus for Blunt/Gosling chemistry and jokes that work and occasional innovation in the action sequences. It's also nice that there's genuine sentiment for stuntmen and the sacrifices they make to their bodies for the good of show business. Docked for the murder plot that wouldn't've ever worked, and instead of three acts, it has, like, five acts. I never need to see the "movie premiere where all the characters reunite in the audience long after the plot is over" trope. I liked the dog, but do we need to see him at the premiere...in sunglasses? Is this a Disney Kids TV movie? Also, the obligatory curtain call for Lee Majors and Heather Thomas made zero sense. Even a mid-credits scene oughta make sense. By the time the credits resumed rolling, I was long overdue for the lobby. 125 minutes could've been a tight 115. (Beacon Theater Pittsfield with H)