Most of the time, I do not worry about celebrity couples.  After all, they are financially set for life, in most cases, and have a lifestyle vastly different from my own.  What occasionally gets me to fret is thinking about whether they will stay together.  There are exceptions.  I did not pay much attention to the trials and tribulations of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt.  However, for reasons I cannot entirely explain, I like Emily Blunt and John Krasinski.  Perhaps it is because I have enjoyed their work?  Or maybe it is because I would like to see love subjected to the spotlight that is Hollywood succeed?  This last sentiment, oddly enough, is fitting for the recent release, The Fall Guy.  At the same time, it gives me a little anxiety to see Blunt starring in it opposite not her husband, but universal heartthrob Ryan Gosling.  When asked by the titular host on Jimmy Kimmel Live! (2003-present) during her latest appearance about Gosling’s chemistry, Blunt quipped that her co-star has enough of that for a meth lab.  With the long hours that actors and actresses work on films, and the time they spend away from their families, it is not unheard of that such feelings turn romantic.  I earnestly pray that this did not happen, and truth be told, The Fall Guy is relatively tame in that department.  You will have to read on for the rest.

As we shall see The Fall Guy is a triple entendre for Hollywood stuntman Colt Seavers (Ryan Gosling).  He works exclusively for famed leading man Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson).  On the sets of most of the films done by Tom and his main producer, Gail Meyer (Hannah Waddingham), is camera woman Jody Moreno (Emily Blunt).  Colt and Jody are in the early stages of a relationship, and they carry on their banter with plans for after this current shoot as he harnesses himself for his next stunt.  Unfortunately, it goes terribly wrong and he falls several stories, hitting the ground and breaking his back.  We fast forward a year later and he is out of the film industry entirely, laboring as a valet at a local restaurant.  Not working in the business anymore also means he has lost contact with Jody, and he seems content to keep it that way.  What changes his mind is a call from Gail.  She wants him to come back to his old job working for Tom. Initially, he says no until she informs him that it is for a movie being directed by Jody, and that his ex-girlfriend had requested him.  Not being able to resist this invitation, he gets on the next flight to Australia and is put straightaway into a dangerous car roll by stunt coordinator and old friend, Dan Tucker (Winston Duke).  It is not until Colt emerges from the wreck that Jody realizes that he is present.  What is being shot is a science fiction epic about a space cowboy falling in love with an alien, and it soon becomes apparent that it is meant to be a metaphor for their entire relationship.  I just wanted to get that bit of context out of the way.  It is explained while she repeatedly has him flung into a rock while lit on fire out of her anger for not contacting her sooner.  Smarting from the bumps and burns, he confronts Gail about this and she reveals the real reason she brought him to the Land Downunder: Tom is missing.  She suspects that he has gotten involved with some disreputable people, and she asks Colt to find him.  Once more Gail uses the lure of Jody, saying that doing this favor will save Jody’s movie.  As such, Colt’s next move is to go to Tom’s house in Sydney.  Once there, Colt is attacked by Iggy Starr (Teresa Palmer), Tom’s co-star and current girlfriend.  Once Colt is able to subdue her, she directs him to a nightclub where Tom’s drug dealer hangs out, who eventually sends Cold to a hotel in town.  Once he gains access to the room indicated by the criminal, he finds a dead body in the bathtub on ice.  However, despite Gail’s warnings not to go to the police, when Colt brings officer back to the same bathroom, the corpse is gone.  He wants to tell Jody about what is going on, but finds that he is distracted by the renewed spark that seems to be developing between them.  This is underscored when she invites him to karaoke after wrapping for that day.  However, ignoring Gail’s request that he now go home, he instead visits Alma Milan (Stephanie Hsu), Tom’s personal assistant.  From her, though they are attacked by a group of unknown assailants, Colt gets Tom’s cell phone.  Realizing there is only one way of unlocking it, that being the code, Colt asks Dan to accompany him to Tom’s house to look through the multitude of post-it notes the actor has around his home for the correct numbers.  Unfortunately, those same gunmen show up and destroy the phone, with Colt being captured in the process.  With Colt tied up, Tom goes into a long exposition confirming that not only kill the man in the bathtub, but that he had arranged for Colt’s accident because the stuntman had broken some vague rule.  Colt uses his skills as a stuntman to escape and fake his own death.  This is timely, too, as he is being framed for the death of the person Tom had murdered.  Instead, Colt sneaks into Jody’s trailer, and together they plot how to get Tom to confess his guilt and absolve Colt.  It happens during an action-packed finale, for the film we are watching and the one they are shooting within it.  With the tools of the trade rigged into a car, Colt sneaks into the vehicle while Tom is handcuffed inside and gets a recording of Tom confessing to his crime.  They also add Gail in the mix when she tries to steal the tape on which the confession is preserved.  This is essentially where the movie ends.

There is actually a post-credits scene in The Fall Guy that shows them doing some of the stunts for a movie about a stunt guy.  This fits well with the pre-film clip of Gosling and director David Leitch, who is a former stuntman, talking about how what you are about to watch is an homage to those unsung heroes that do all the dangerous things you see in movies.  My Catholic heart appreciated the recognition for these little ones, if you will, in the industry.  It is one of several cute moments throughout the runtime.  I would say clever, but despite all the tongue-in-cheek and winks at the audience, it is still a predictable action film.  This is not entirely a criticism, but there were beats and moments that I could see coming well before they landed.  The reason I call it “cute,” then, is because the tone of the movie remains light without getting too goofy.  There is a sequence when Colt is unwittingly dosed with a narcotic that makes him see random unicorns wherever he looks, but that is about the extent of the overt silliness.  Put differently, there are no belly laughs in it, at least for me, but I did maintain a slight smile throughout.  An example of what I am talking about comes at the very end when Lee Majors and Heather Thomas, stars of the television show of the same name (1981-1986), show up as cops to arrest Gail and Tom.  It may be schlocky, but it works.  This extends to the characters.  The protagonists are likable, though I will talk more about them in a minute.  Overall, it is a passable experience.

As a Catholic reviewer watching The Fall Guy, there is a line exchanged by our protagonists that stuck out prominently. As they are planning their getaways at the beginning and end of this tale, they agree that part of what they will do will involve making “bad decisions.”  This is significant because it symbolizes a moral laxity on the part of society that says being irresponsible is permissible, if in moderation.  That word is used to cover a whole host of sin, but that is a more general conversation.  Though what I have to say from a Catholic perspective is not much narrower, it is arguably more important.  One of my constant prayers is that I hear God’s will and promptly follow it.  It has been a kind of spiritual wrestling match not only with God, but also with my spiritual director, as I try to figure out what doing His bidding looks like for me.  The other day, however, an answer hit me as only divine inspiration can: there is one bit of what God asks of me that I know, and have known for most my life.  Put simply, God does not want me to sin.  It might seem obvious, but if one is truly dedicated to giving an unequivocal yes to God, sin would be doing the opposite.  Yet, and I count myself here, how often do we forget this command and do as we please?  All the same, let us take out the spiritual component for a moment, as if that were possible.  The words “bad decisions” could cover a whole host of behaviors that do not necessarily endanger your mortal soul.  Likely, what Colt and Jody are talking about is drinking too much, and possibly fornication.  With alcohol, only when it becomes a problem of not being able to stop does sin come into play.  As for sex, well, the premarital variety is what the Church rails against the most.  My concern is that consciously deciding to make “bad decisions” could lead to more serious situations, ones that do involve sin, the kind on which the enemy thrives.  You can accuse me of making a mountain out of a mole hill, but bad decisions more often lead to worse decisions.

Truthfully, this is the most objectionable aspect of The Fall Guy.  I would say the drug sequence, but Colt is unknowingly dosed.  That cannot be one of the “bad decisions” mentioned in the last paragraph because he did not make it.  Otherwise, I would go so far as to say that he is heroic.  I would not be clamoring to see this movie again.  I also would not be upset if I found myself in the theater rewatching it.