Starring Ryan Gosling, “The Fall Guy” (2024) is finally available to watch on Prime Video. Loosely based on the 80s TV series of the same name, this action-comedy, directed by David Leitch (“John Wick”), adds some pedal-to-the-metal thrills and knee-slapping comedy to the usual formula. Ryan Gosling stars as Colt Seavers, a failed stuntman trying to make it again, whereas Emily Blunt is Jody Danko, a director on the brink of stardom. They are thrown into a world of glitz and glamour, behind-the-scenes secrets, and a dangerous conspiracy that threatens to derail everything.
Plot Summary
Everything was working out fine for Colt, a stuntman who worked as the stunt double of the biggest action star, Tom Ryder. He was doing great in his career, and his romantic relationship with camera operator Jody was also blooming. However, one “spine-chilling” stunt (which literally broke his spine) went wrong and isolated him from the rest of society. He willingly ghosted Jody and went into hibernation. Colt lost it all because of Ryder’s unending requests to do the stunts again and again, which caused him to lose his job and Jody too. When he is forced to fly to Sydney to relaunch himself as Tom Ryder’s stunt man in a new movie, you get an idea of how bad he really wants another chance with Jody. This new movie, “Metalstorm,” is Jody’s big break as a director. Conflicted by Colt’s sudden return, Jody is a little vengeful and makes Colt pay for his mistakes with some serious students. However, she soon felt that Colt genuinely cared about her and broke down emotionally while listening to Taylor Swift music videos.
Now, Tom Ryder is suddenly missing, and the task of finding the movie star has been assigned to Colt by Gail, the executive producer. It seems like things are not well for Ryder anymore since he is going into crime circles. After being drugged by Ryder’s dealer and discovering a dead body in a hotel bathtub, Colt realizes he is in serious trouble.
What Happens To Colt At The Beginning Of The Film?
The story starts with Colt Seavers (played by Gosling), a stuntman, taking a hard fall on a movie set. Colt was at the top of his career as a stuntman before the accident. Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), who was the lead, stole all of Colt’s stunts and claimed he did them himself. Colt wasn’t sore about it; he knew how things were done in that field. Moreover, after the film shoot, he was also romantically involved with Jody Moreno (played by Emily Blunt). However, after Colt’s injury, he fell into a deep depression and pushed Jody away.
Eighteen months later, Colt is working as a valet when movie producer Gail Meyer (Hannah Waddingham) calls him. She’s in Australia, where Tom Ryder is filming a huge sci-fi/action/romance movie called “Metal Storm.” Ryder’s stunt double is out of commission, and they need Colt to step in and do the dangerous stunts. Initially, Colt refuses, but Gail persuades him by revealing that Jody is directing the film, which is in trouble. If Colt can do the stunts, he might save the movie and win back Jody.
Colt flies to the set and when he performs a spectacular car flip, Jody is shocked to see him, feeling conflicted because he has disappeared from her life. There’s a humorous scene where they discuss the “romance plot” in the movie script through bullhorns, which is actually about their own relationship struggles. After that, Jody makes him do dangerous stunts again and again, maybe as a way of getting back at him.
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What Does Colt Discover While Trying to Find Tom Ryder?
Later on, an eccentric Gail says that she actually had an ulterior motive by bringing Colt with her: Tom Ryder has disappeared, and this is affecting the movie negatively. She needs Colt to locate Ryder, who is leading them through Melbourne on a wild goose chase. And why Colt? Well, because he’s a stuntman whom nobody will notice is missing and because he knows Ryder closely. Colt agrees because if the movie flops, it’ll be bad for Jody.
While on the hunt, Colt goes to Ryder’s place, where, out of nowhere, he is attacked by Ryder’s girlfriend, Iggy, with a katana. After calming, she tells him that Ryder might be at a shady club. Colt meets Ryder’s drug dealer, named Doone, at the club, who tries to drug him with a drink.
Even as he is drugged, he fights off Doone’s men. Seeing that, Doone runs, and Colt tries to escape from Colt. However, Colt catches up to him and gets information about Ryder’s whereabouts. He goes to the hotel, shocked to find a dead body on ice inside the bathtub. He informs Gail, but she doesn’t respond. Colt returns to the same room with the police, but the body is nowhere to be found now.
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What Does Colt Find On Ryder’s Phone?
This body being moved so fast should have alerted Colt to the fact that he was dealing with dangerous people. This, however, doesn’t mean that he will leave and miss a chance to show Jody how reliable a person he can be. Even though Gail had secured his tickets home, he remained behind. Ryder’s assistant, Alma, told him that there would be nothing for her without Ryder. And still, this young man wouldn’t like Jody to have her career terminated before it started at all.
Fortunately, Colt tracks down Alma Milan, Ryder’s assistant, who is Ryder’s phone to him. Also, Jean-Claude, one of Ryder’s trained dogs, helps out Colt when Dressler, one of Ryder’s men, takes Alma as hostage. During this risky chase scene, Colt makes good use of his skills as a stuntman.
Every room in Ryder’s house contains notes. Dan, the stunt coordinator, quickly spots a password written on the fridge in his apartment. Alma told them about a video that could end Ryder’s career and even his life!
In the video clip, it is revealed that a drunk Ryder kills his current double Henry by accident. Ryder’s henchmen attack Colt and Dan and destroy the phone. Now, the CCTV footage where Colt is seen going in and out of the hotel room is used against him to frame him for the murder.
What Does Tom Ryder Reveal In Front of Colt?
Ryder got drunk, kicked Henry at the party, and he fell down dead. You will assume that it was a playful moment gone wrong. However, when mysterious thugs abduct Colt, Ryder reveals the truth, which clearly marks him as the villain. He confesses that on this set, Henry mocked his wretchedness like a coward. Ryder also admits ruining Colt’s stunt several months ago to cause an injury in “The Fall Guy” opening scene.
But he has always loathed stuntmen, yet he has stayed mum about it. He wants to be the star without any interference from any of the “stuntmen stealing his spotlight.” As AI, CGI, and deepfake technology are on their way up, Tom sees stuntmen as becoming obsolete. Besides, if he can take some of them out with him, then so be it.
Colt manages an escape from Tom’s henchman with a clever fire stunt and boards a waiting boat. On the boat, a deep-fake clip showing Colt’s face on Tom’s body hits the news, framing him for the stunt double’s murder. Colt calls Jody, says he has lived with regret since the accident, and confesses his love for her. Then, the boat explodes in the ocean, and Colt is presumed dead.
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“The Fall Guy” End Explained: How Do Colt and Jody Take Down Tom Ryder and Gail?
It was Gail who was the brain behind everything. She has been egging on Ryder and covering up his tracks too. She planned for Colt to get a job in “Metalstorm” so that she would frame him for Ryder’s wrongdoing. All this time, Gail has been engineering scenarios towards pitting Jody against Colt. However, Jody still believes in Colt and that he can never hurt anyone. As such, Jody, Colt, and the stunt crew hatch a plan to make Ryder admit to murder. Often times, Ryder forgets that his mic is on, so they create a situation where he feels like he must confess.
Ryder hates being made fun of because of his fear of performing stunts; therefore, they developed a narrative where he will be in a car while Colt does them instead of him. While handcuffing Ryder, just when it starts getting wild, Colt drives him into an ordeal until Ryder admits everything guiltily. Nevertheless, the recording is taken by Gail, who then escapes with Ryder riding off in a helicopter. In order to deal with the thugs at work, members of the stunt crew stage an explosive spectacle to deal with the goons on set.
Colt’s stakes are very high here, Jody’s career and his own life are in danger. In a final heroic stunt, Colt leaps from a crane to the helicopter, grabs the recording, and falls onto an airbag. Colt has come a long way since his accident, realizing he’s the hero of his own story. His success celebrates stuntmen who make films exciting but rarely get applause.
So the end of “The Fall Guy” sees Jody get her happily ever after. This time they have shot her movie all over again, and it’s definitely going to be a hit with Jason Momoa as the Space Cowboy. In a mid-credit scene, Lee Majors, who was Colt Seaver, and Heather Thomas join in as their roles in “The Fall Guy,” arresting Ryder and Gail. On set, Ryder’s arrogance leads to his doom when he sets off an explosion.
So, at the end of “The Fall Guy,” they’re really giving props to all those folks who work behind the scenes in Hollywood, especially the stunt crew. The movie is basically saying that these stunt performers deserve just as much credit as the big-name actors. And get this, they’re kind of poking fun at those actors who don’t give their stunt doubles the recognition they deserve.
Throughout the movie, there’s this guy, the star actor Tom Ryder, who gets all worked up when people doubt his stunts, but at the same time, he’s making sure his stunt team doesn’t steal his thunder. It’s like he knows he needs them but doesn’t want them to overshadow him.
Then there’s Colt, who’s struggling with his identity after getting injured. But by the end, he learns that his loved ones still care about him, even if he’s not pulling off crazy stunts. Plus, he realizes he shouldn’t have pushed away someone like Jody, who was there for him. So, he puts his pride aside, accepts help and love, and comes out of it all stronger.
