[I review the new Ryan Gosling movie "The Fall Guy" as well as the tennis film "Challengers," and "Hit Man," a Top Ten movie on Netflix now]
The Fall Guy (2024)
Stunt man, Colt Seavers (Ryan Gosling), unwittingly gets involved in a murder conspiracy.
Colt Seavers, a Hollywood stunt man, is "livin' the dream" working as the stunt double for famous action star, Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson). However, he breaks his back during a stunt gone wrong and abandons his career as well as his camerawoman and girlfriend, Jody Moreno (Emily Blunt).
Fast forward 18 months. Colt is now a valet for a Mexican restaurant, no longer "livin' the dream." However, out of the blue, he is contacted by Gail Meyer (Hannah Waddingham), Tom Ryder's film producer, and she tells him that Jody is now a director and is directing her first film, a space cowboy film titled "Metalstorm" and starring Tom. Gail tells Colt that Jody needs him, so Gail wants Colt to fly to Sydney to join the production. Turns out Jody didn't know anything about Colt becoming part of the production and is still angry with him for ghosting her. So...the real reason that Gail wanted Colt to come was to find Tom Ryder who has gotten into trouble with some drug dealers. He needs to be found before the film goes over budget and gets canceled.
Well, that's her story, anyway. Turns out, Tom has been involved in a murder and Gail has some plans for Colt. Lots of action as Colt tries to extricate himself from the plot. In the meantime, there is a rekindling of Colt's and Jody's love affair, so we've got action, rom-com and a convoluted conspiracy plot.
Written by Drew Pearse and loosely based on the 1980's TV series "The Fall Guy" starring Lee Majors, this is a movie filled with action and stunts about movies filled with action and stunts.
What I liked - the action and stunts. There are some very cool scenes with exciting stunts, and the film shows how many of the movie stunts we take for granted are done, which is quite fascinating. Cars rolling over and crashing, people falling from high places, fights, all of that. It's an insider look at how action movies are made.
What I didn't like - everything else.
Sadly, the film is an action movie about action movies with a tedious plot that is supposed to be funny at times but really isn't.
I never think of Ryan Gosling as a comedy guy or a wise-cracking action hero. I always think of him as a serious, moody actor. Yes, I know he was nominated for an Oscar for playing Ken in the Barbie Movie, but if you really think about it, he played Ken straight and that was what made his performance funny. Here, he has shtick that he has to pull off and wise-guy dialogue, and I just didn't buy it. But I can blame some of it on the script which wasn't very good. It's an unbelievable, not very interesting plot. The "fall guy" who does falls for a living is going to be the "fall guy" in a conspiracy plot. Get it? Duh.
Emily Blunt is always good but here doesn't have that much to do as an actress, though she does get to have some action scenes herself which, though not very believable, were kind of fun. And I like Hannah Waddingham, who you may or may not recognize from "Ted Lasso" despite her black hair and, I swear, fake teeth.
Directed by David Leitch, I think this was supposed to be a satire on action films, and it definitely is an homage to those folks who thrill us with their stunts, but it just didn't come together. Slow to get going, and when it finally did get going, lots of "huh?" moments. However, if you watch it, stay to the end. An almost unrecognizable Lee Majors has a cameo.
Rosy the Reviewer says...if you like action movies and you don't care if there is a believable plot or not, you might enjoy this. Otherwise, save your money, or if you really think you need to see this, wait for it to stream for free. (In theatres or for rent on Amazon Prime)
Challengers (2024)
It's all about a 13 year love triangle between an injured tennis star turned coach (Zendaya), her tennis player ex-boyfriend (Josh O'Connor), and her tennis champion husband (Mike Faist).
It's 2019 and Tashi (Zendaya) and Art Donaldson (Faist, best known for originating the role of Connor Murphy on Broadway in "Dear Even Hansen") are a wealthy married couple with a young daughter. Art is a tennis champ and only one U.S. Open title away from a Career Grand Slam, but he is struggling. Tashi, herself a tennis champ but retired due to injury, is his manager and coach and enters him as a wild card in a Challenger event in New Rochelle, New York in hopes it will help him get back on track.
And then there is Patrick Zweig (O'Connor), another tennis champ, but one who has fallen on hard times. He is living in his car and scraping by. It just so happens he is also entered in the Challenger tournament.
So what do these three people have to do with one another?
In a series of flashbacks we find out.
In 2006, Patrick and Art were close friends and friendly rivals. Together, they won the boys' junior doubles title at the U.S. Open. It is there that they see Tashi Duncan for the first time. She is a rising tennis star and both boys become infatuated with her. They introduce themselves and invite her to their hotel room where a sort of threesome ensues. But before things get really out of hand, Tashi leaves saying she will give her phone number to whichever boy wins the final the next day. Patrick wins and the two start a relationship.
Later, Tashi and Art play college tennis at Stanford and Patrick turns pro and both boys continue a relationship with Tashi, though the relationship between the boys sours. We already know that Art and Tashi end up together, but how that happens and what happens between Art and Patrick and their subsequent tennis careers is all played out in a series of back and forth flashbacks culminating in a final present day match between Art and Patrick.
As an aside, I have a rather personal relationship with tennis.
My older sister was a rising college tennis star herself in the 1950's and went on to become a pro and teach tennis. She and I both went to the same college and let's just say that when I took a tennis class and it was taught by one of the coaches who had coached my sister, I could see the disappointment on his face. I didn't have the gift. My sister called me a "motor moron," and I guess there is something to that when it comes to sports, though I can play the piano and am a really good ping pong player. There has to be some hand and eye coordination in there somewhere. Anyway, I knew to pick my own lane. I was an actress!
Speaking of which, Zendaya has made it as an actress and is hot right now. She started out as a young actress and singer and at 16 was the youngest contestant on "Dancing with the Stars" but made her mark in "The Greatest Showman" in 2017 and later in the TV series "Euphoria."
Faist and O'Connor, though good actors, are unlikely leading men. They do fine as callow young men in love with a goddess like Zendaya, but as men in their thirties, I wasn't buying it, which is strange because they are both in their 30's in real life. They worked better as college students. I just didn't buy O'Connor has a husband. And I hate to say it, but both are also just too ordinary looking to be leading men and objects of Zendaya's desires, but thankfully the story, written by Justin Kuritzkees and directed by Lucca Guadagnino, carries them. After awhile, I forgot about their looks and got into the story, though this is a 90 minute movie wearing a 135 minute bit of sheep's clothing. It didn't need to be that long and the soundtrack was annoying.
Rosy the Reviewer says...some good tennis sequences will satisfy tennis fans and a quirky romance might satisfy rom-com fans. (in theatres and for rent on Amazon Prime)
Hit Man (2024)
A college professor moonlights undercover for the New Orleans Police Department as a fake hit man to uncover murder plots.
Gary Johnson (Glenn Powell) is a mild-mannered professor of psychology and philosophy at the University of New Orleans who lives alone and just happens to also be working undercover with the New Orleans Police Department, pretending to be a hit man to assist in undercover sting operations. He is a self-professed "undercover murder stopper." He started out with the police department as a tech guy but when Jasper (Austin Amelio), their regular undercover guy is suspended, they recruit Gary to take his place. Turns out, despite the fact that Gary is a mild-mannered philosophy professor with an interest in birding, he is really good at the personification and disguises needed to be a believable hit man. He adopts the persona of "Ron," and Ron has many personalities and disguises that belie his real life. Let's just say that in real life, Gary is a bit of a nerd, but when he is Ron, he is a tough and scary hit man.
Ron/Gary meets Madison (Adria Arjona), a femme fatale who is trying to have her abusive husband killed. Uh-oh. You know how those things go. Gary is attracted to her and sympathetic. He tells her to keep her money and use it to begin a new life. But as these things go, they meet again and begin a relationship, but Gary is worried that Madison is attracted to Ron, not Gary, but soon Gary is pulled into Madison's complicated life with her ex-husband, Ray (Evan Holtzman), who unknowingly tries to hire Gary to kill Madison! And it all gets more complicated with Jasper coming back and becoming a thorn in Gary's side.
Glen Powell is my new favorite handsome leading man. He is so totally my type. Well, my type if I was 40 years younger! I first noticed him in "Anyone But You," a bad movie that I didn't like, but I liked him, and now it seems he is everywhere. Guess I'm not the only one who liked him!
Written by Richard Linklater and Powell and directed by Linklater, who so beautifully directed "Boyhood," "The Before Trilogy" and others, this is a dark comedy that is a Top Ten movie on Netflix right now and it deserves that. It's fast moving, darkly funny with witty narration, intelligent dialogue, original situations, an ending you won't see coming and based on a real guy (so don't miss the epilogue). You will enjoy it. I promise.
Rosy the Reviewer says...A LOT OF FUN! And there is that handsome Glenn Powell! (Netflix)
Thanks for reading!
