Early reactions to David Leitch’s The Fall Guy are praising the movie as “one of the best action comedies in years.”
The Fall Guy, which stars Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt, had its world premiere on March 12, 2024, at South by Southwest (SXSW).
Josh Horowitz of the Happy Sad Confused podcast wrote, “THE FALL GUY is one of the best action comedies in years. If TROPIC THUNDER, LETHAL WEAPON, & FLETCH had a baby this is it. Pure entertainment. Somehow Ryan Gosling is even better in this than BARBIE. Sorry, not sorry.”
Brian Tallerico, the managing editor of RoberEbert.com, said, “THE FALL GUY: The kind of phenomenally entertaining movie that you leave excited to see again. Gosling and Blunt have SO much charm and, of course, the stunt work rocks through. Just as fun as you want it to be and then some.”
Film critic Scott Menzel, meanwhile, called it “David Leitch’s love letter to the stunt community” and “the most fun you will have at the movies all year,” while The Kingcast co-host Eric Vespe praised Gosling for being “effortlessly charming” and having “great chemistry with Blunt.”
Variety’s review, written by Peter Debruge, said The Fall Guy “is funny, it’s sexy, and it features the boy-toy version of Barbie scene-stealer Ryan Gosling — which is to say, this time around, he embodies the ultimate action figure.”
Bilge Ebiri, meanwhile, wrote for Vulture, “What makes it genuinely artful is the way that Leitch and his team (including writer Drew Pearce and stunt coordinator Chris O’Hara” have conceived the film’s stunts as extensions of the characters.”
What is The Fall Guy about?
“He’s a stuntman, and like everyone in the stunt community, he gets blown up, shot, crashed, thrown through windows and dropped from the highest of heights, all for our entertainment,” the official synopsis reads. “And now, fresh off an almost career-ending accident, this working-class hero has to track down a missing movie star, solve a conspiracy and try to win back the love of his life while still doing his day job. What could possibly go right?”
Based on the 1980s television series of the same name, The Fall Guy also stars Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Winston Duke, Stephane Hsu, Teresa Palmer, and Hannah Waddingham alongside Gosling and Blunt.
The Fall Guy releases in United States theaters on May 3, 2024, from Universal Pictures.
