On April 25, cinemas began showing the comedy action film “Stuntman” starring Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt. This is a film adaptation of the adventure series of the same name, which had 5 seasons and was broadcast on ABC from 1981 to 1986. The director was David Leitch, who over the past 10 years has managed to establish himself as an excellent director of action films (“Atomic Blonde,” “Fast and Furious: Hobbs and Shaw,” “Bullet Train”). In this review we tell you why the new film is extremely pleasing to the viewer’s eye.
Pros:
cool stunts and generally high-quality action component; good chemistry between Gosling and Emily Blunt; interesting behind the scenes of film production; good humor and appropriate irony; nice cameos; good soundtrack
Minuses:
the detective component is purely formal; overall an unpretentious story
“Stuntman” / The Fall Guy
Genre Comedy Action
Director David Leitch
Starring: Ryan Gosling, Emily Blunt, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Hannah Waddingham, Teresa Palmer, Winston Duke, Stephanie Xu
Premiere cinemas
Year of manufacture 2024
IMDb website
Colt Seavers is a professional stuntman and permanent stunt double for Hollywood superstar, heart thief Tom Ryder. Colt has a romantic relationship with the best girl in the world, cameraman Jodi Moreno, a favorite job and complete confidence that life is good. But one unfortunate accident on the set puts an end to this confidence: the stuntman loses his career, his loved one, and worst of all, himself.
Fate gives the guy a second chance when producer Gale Meyer approaches him and offers to make a comeback, and in the debut film of the former – space science fiction “Metal Storm”. Colt refuses at first, but when he hears that Jodie personally insisted on his presence, he immediately goes to the filming location. However, the hero soon faces a much bigger problem than the fear of returning to his profession. The mysterious disappearance of Tom Ryder promises to derail the project and forever bury his beloved’s dreams of a director’s career.
Former stuntman David Leitch, who has repeatedly acted as Brad Pitt’s stunt double, knows better than anyone how to shoot complex stunt films and the cost of performing these stunts.
At its core, Stuntman is a love letter to the dangerous calling that every blade runner chooses for the sake of fleeting entertainment. This is work that almost always goes unnoticed, and all the glory goes to the star actors. A routine like “while you were filming a sex scene with Kim Basinger, I was on fire in the car.” Even the damned Oscar doesn’t have the consolation of a nomination that could honor the thankless work of stuntmen.
And Leitch’s new film is intended to remind you that no computer special effects that are crammed into modern big-budget blockbusters, no Avengers and your toy “infinity stones” can replace real practical tricks. And it’s no secret that fresh air is much healthier than stuffy rooms with green or blue walls. So in this context, the director leans towards an old-school approach to the action sequences, thereby referencing the era in which the original television series was released.
However, what is most captivating about “Stuntman” is not even this, but the undisguised thirst of the creators to entertain their audience as efficiently as possible, and here the film is in perfect order. This is a prime example of how, with a fairly unpretentious plot, you can create an outstanding and fun movie attraction, two hours of pure pleasure.
Perhaps it’s not worth mentioning once again that the action here is staged and filmed superbly. Here, Mr. Snyder, is how slow motion should be used, and, as we see, it is more expedient to do this with the sweet sounds of classics (a cover of I Was Made For Lovin’ You) than with a pathetic, hysterical soundtrack.
The genre of the film is a bizarre cocktail of action, rom-com and detective, and all these directions get along well together.
Leitch willingly lifts the veil of filmmaking, discusses the feasibility of a split screen within a split screen, and refers to the setting of Dune and sci-fi blockbusters about clashes with aliens in general. When it comes time to remember an authentic stunt performer, let it be Tom Cruise. If I were to quote anyone, then why not the hero of the first Fast and the Furious – a truly cult action film of a bygone era. And if you turn cars upside down, then only so as to get into the Guinness Book of Records.
This fun and boisterous adventure is bolstered by appropriate irony and good on-screen chemistry. The first is entirely the responsibility of the caricatured Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who personifies the collective image of stars spoiled by fame. In second place are Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt, between whom there is fascinating chemistry and interesting relationship dynamics. Gosling, although he refuses the luxurious Stallion fur coat, still looks surprisingly stylish. In supporting roles you can see the star of “Ted Lasso” Hannah Waddingham and, accordingly, “Black Panther” Winston Duke, who complement the main storyline well. According to the old Dzhonuik tradition, we couldn’t do without a cute dog. In passing, let’s remember several wonderful cameos that further sweeten the overall impression of the film.
As a result, the viewer receives two hours of wonderful leisure, which is achieved thanks to many months of titanic work by film makers and, in particular, stuntmen. This is something you should never forget.
Conclusion:
Although it relies on traditional filmmaking methods and takes issue with modern, artificial content generation capabilities, Stuntman is still a breath of fresh air. Therefore, he gets a thumbs up, which is a standard stunt gesture.
