By CYNTHIA BIDDLECOMB
Los Alamos

“The Fall Guy” is the type of movie for which theater screens were designed: explosions, fight scenes, sci-fi encounters, car crashes, nearly all the things stunt actors do are in this movie. David Leitch, himself a former stuntman, directs this tribute to the profession he once shared with thousands of unknown stunt people, the folks who make films work.

The story begins as a romantic-comedy. Ryan Gosling (Barbie’s Ken) plays Colt Seavers, stunt double for a big name actor called Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson from Bullet Train). Colt is sweet on a camera operator called Jody Moreno, played by Emily Blunt (Kitty in Oppenheimer). But after a failed stunt fall (actually performed by Gosling!) in a hotel atrium, Colt sustains a broken back and, over the next 18 months, the two lose touch.

Tom’s handler, Gail Meyer (played by Ted Lasso’s Hannah Waddingham) calls Colt to come to Sydney and help on Jody’s directorial debut, a sci-fi blockbuster titled MetalStorm. Colt arrives, performs some stunts on camera, and reconnects with Jody, all before he learns that the film’s leading man is missing. Gail asks Colt to find Ryder. And now the rom-com becomes a murder mystery which soon turns into an action flick. Colt’s friend, stunt director Dan Tucker (Winston Duke who played M’Baku in Black Panther) gets in on some of the fight scene action.

The Fall Guy celebrates movie industry stunt actors and their teams as unsung heroes. The film’s snappy dialogue dishes out offhand remarks about stunt performers never winning film awards and being disregarded by the very actors who look good due to the work of their stunt doubles. Colt is presented as a working-class guy, dispensable to marketing, and known only to the film crew. But when the going gets tough, the stunt crew has his back.

While making this film The Fall Guy stunt team actually succeeded in breaking the Guinness record for most rolls in a cannon car roll! Other cool stunts include a helicopter drop (not performed by Gosling) and a car making an amazing canyon leap. It’s worth seeing the film to appreciate how such stunts are designed just to entertain us.

The movie was filmed in Sydney, Australia, around the Harbor Bridge and the Opera House, as well as on beaches in New South Wales. Amazing costumes and sets for the sci-fi movie that Jody directs add a strange background to Colt’s personal drama, complete with aliens and spaceships. There’s also a car chase with a garbage truck through downtown Sydney.

As the end credits roll, one is happily distracted by the left half of the screen showing out-takes of The Fall Guy’s own stunt crew making the magic. This is followed by an epilogue set of scenes bringing in cameo actors you’ll want to see. Remember the Fall Guy TV show?

The Fall Guy is “Rated PG-13 for action and violence, drug content and some strong language.” It’s a fun romp of a film, full of amazing stunts and humorous dialogue.