Fall Guy

 

Score:  B+

Directed by David Leitch

Starring Ryan Gosling, Emily Blunt, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, et. Al.

Running time: 126 minutes

PG-13

Long Story Short:  Stuntman-turned-director Leitch turns his camera back on the dirty, painful business behind action filmmaking in a fun, cheerful, if a bit too over-the-top action comedy.  Gosling and Blunt are a great pair of leads with good chemistry, and the first part of the movie is rollicking.  Opinions will vary on the wisdom of going beyond the movie's initial premise, but it all comes back around for a nice finale.  Recommended for a fun start (? - it's already available on streaming now... sigh) to summer movie season.

Colt (Gosling) has a good thing going: the stunt man (or “fall guy”) for a superstar actor (Taylor-Johnson), he does the coolest scenes in the movies while spending time with his flame, camerawoman Jody (Blunt).  In an instant, however, Colt’s life is turned upside down and, a year and a half later, finds himself alone and out of the business.  Life seems to give him a second chance, and Colt seizes it, returning to the stunt world.  His reunion with Jody does not go as hoped, though, and even his meal ticket, the lunkhead actor, seems to have gone off the reservation.  Colt must fight for himself, and the ones he loves, or his second chance could quickly go up in smoke.

Fall Guy is an entertaining movie with an interesting spin on the action comedy genre, but it goes too far afield and extreme when focus and restraint would have mostly been better.  The director, whose debut was the superior action movie, John Wick, started as a stunt coordinator himself and fittingly pays tribute to his original field here.  And that premise is a really good one which pays off in a great first third of the movie.  It focuses on the movie-making business, with the stunts at the center, of course, featuring not just Gosling’s brash but likable Colt but also Blunt’s shy yet capable camerawoman as well as a feisty, energetic producer (played by Waddingham from Ted Lasso).  It’s only after Colt and Jody’s falling out, though, that their chemistry really kicks into high gear with some hilarious banter.  Gosling, other than being one of today’s megastars, was a great choice for the lead as he does well as a counterpart for strong female leads (with Stone in La La Land, Robbie in Barbie, etc.).

Unfortunately, a somewhat strange development ends up turning the course of the movie upside down, as Colt is forced to grapple with the movie star’s having gotten himself into trouble.  There are several scenes of essentially the kind of action you might expect from John Wick or something similar - and yes, there’s plenty of humor involved and doesn’t take itself too seriously, but the characters seem bafflingly unfazed by it all and the action starts to crowd out - in time and attention - what could have better been used on plot and character work.  Colt and Jody could have used more direct interaction, and the movie star and producer would have been more interesting were they less exaggerated.  Still, the climax is well-conceived and executed - largely because it finally brings it back to the ostensible point of the movie, stunt work.  Colt and the “good guys” make a clever plan that is silly but not ridiculously action-y, and allows everyone in the cast a chance to shine.  It’s easy to leave the theater with a smile on your face.

***

Fall Guy is not the kind of movie I expect to kick off the summer movie season - in fact, 2024 is the first year since 2009 that Marvel has not occupied this space.  Still, we got a perfectly enjoyable - if considerably smaller-scale - popcorn movie here.  Due to the writers’ and actors’ strike last year, and Marvel’s (hopefully short-term) pullback after a tough 2023, the offerings are a little more meager this year.  I would love to see more movies along the lines of Fall Guy, though - if anything, scaling back the action even more.  Perhaps I’ve just seen enough movies at this point that action alone isn’t nearly enough to satisfy me.  Originality and creativity, on the other hand: more, please!  Once again, I’m not sure what is coming up next for me at the theater, but hopefully it’s another good one.

* By Universal Pictures - http://www.impawards.com/2024/fall_guy.html, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=75207794

Challengers

 

Score:  A

Directed by Luca Guadagnino

Starring Zendaya, Mike Faist, Josh O'Connor

Running time: 131 minutes

Rated R

Long Story Short:  Auteur director Luca Guadagnino brings his intimate filmmaking to the tennis world, zooming in on a tumultuous three-way relationship between young stars.  The sports action is much more exciting than usual, thanks to both clever filming and its close associations with the outside relationships (which get plenty of more direct but PG-13 level expression).  The actors are talented, fully committed, and bring their characters to life.  Highly recommended.

The intertwined relationship of three tennis phenoms - Tashi (Zendaya), Art (Faist), and Patrick (O'Connor) - evolves over the course of thirteen years.  Art and Patrick are high school best friends and both find success at the US Open tournament in the juniors division.  While celebrating their wins, they meet Tashi, the junior girls' champion, who they both are attracted to.  The three stay in touch over the years, though there is plenty of change as they attend college, struggle on the pro level, endure sudden setbacks, and deal with their pasts.  One match between Art and Patrick at a minor event - but the first they've played against each other as pros - promises to have consequences far beyond the modest prize money and ranking points.

Challengers is a viscerally intimate and riveting drama, more a closely observed relationship movie than a typical sports movie.  The cast is really just the three main characters - which is good, allowing the film to focus on them completely.  That might make it feel like a small movie, but the tennis elements, and really the sport itself, make it feel bigger.  A "love triangle" is the central feature, but what makes this one particularly unique and interesting is it's really a love triangle-squared: each individual has their own personality (each very different from the others); their own romantic interests; and their own relationship with the shared vocation of tennis.  The young actors not only credibly pull off a wide age range through the movie, from teenagers to jaded young adults, they have phenomenal chemistry with each other; they truly feel symbiotic, even when they hate each other.  The writing is fantastic, with both very believable and interesting dialogue, as well as well-rounded characters (although there's also enough mystery left to be enjoyable to imagine) who have both endearing strengths and repulsive flaws - just like real people.  Personally, I "rooted" mostly for Art and Tashi; Patrick reminded me too much of a typical asshole male (how do women fall for them???), and his smile/sneer made me want to punch him.

Along with the compelling interpersonal triangle, the movie is greatly helped by its non-linear structure.  It begins at the end, basically, with the start of Art and Patrick's match; just as you realize there is more to this match than the usual competitive rivalry, we are taken back to the very beginning of the threesome's relationship.  The movie then flips back and forth: it spends the most time on the final match (and the events directly leading up to it) but also looks at critical scenes from the previous thirteen years.  Thus you gradually get to know the characters and the final match evolves in its meaning - genius move.  Finally, the viewing experience is revved up further by the intense physicality and sensuality of the tennis and love scenes.  The tennis matches are creatively shot and varied, showcasing the high level of exertion involved and how hard the ball is struck, almost violently at times.  Even as a tennis fan, I admit that it can be a bit dull to watch, but the director and cinematographer make it more exciting than you can imagine.  On a general sports level, it even pulls off the impressive trick of keeping the outcome of the final match very much in doubt!  Bonus points for tennis fans in providing a realistic sense of the pro tour, and even having real TV announcers give some background commentary.  There are also plenty of steamy scenes; no direct sex or nudity but some intense make outs, or even just highly sexually-charged moments, that parallel the tennis in some ways.  The soundtrack provides a great final accompanying feature, amplifying the intensity and emotions of scenes with pop instrumentation but also knowing when to back off.

***

Challengers was an out-of-the-blue movie for me, as I didn't know about it very long before it came to theaters and it's definitely not the kind of movie I expect to see this time of year.  But I'm very glad that I saw it, as it's one of the most entertaining and well-made movies I've seen in the last few years.  It also restored my faith that sports can be effectively incorporated into movies; most "sports movies" are dull and predictable, though sports and movies can combine well if done thoughtfully (see also: Moneyball).  It's not exactly the start of the summer movie season, but I'll take it!

* By http://www.impawards.com/2024/challengers_xlg.html, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=75698722