The Fall Guy review: Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt are dreamy
Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt’s chemistry takes the roof off director David Leitch’s new film—his best so far.
The Fall Guy post-credits scene, explained
It’s essentially an Easter egg that links to the original ‘80s TV series that inspired the movie. Spoilers follow for The Fall Guy.
Akhil Arora, a member of the Film Critics Guild and a Rotten Tomatoes-certified film critic, who has been covering the world of movies and TV series since 2015. He has written for NDTV and SlashFilm.
Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt’s new movie—The Fall Guy—is a riot. It successfully blends an action film and rom-com, pleasing fans of both genres while cleverly showing them the pleasures and charms of the other side. While Colt Seavers (Gosling) tries to win another chance with ex-girlfriend Jody Moreno (Emily Blunt), he’s also trying to track down Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), the missing star of the movie she’s directing. Turns out, Tom isn’t missing. It’s part of an elaborate plot to frame Colt as a murderer. Colt saves the day on both fronts—exonerating himself and getting Jody back in his life.
But there’s more to the movie. If you got up and left after the climactic kiss, here’s what you missed. But before we get into The Fall Guy’s post-credits scene—technically, it’s a mid-credits scene—let’s look at the ending as it provides important context.
The Fall Guy ending, explained
Following Colt and Jody’s passionate embrace at the Australian sets of Metalstorm, The Fall Guy propels itself into a trailer for the movie within the movie. With Tom no doubt in jail, the Metalstorm trailer features a new actor: Jason Momoa as himself. This had sort of been foreshadowed. Momoa had earlier been referenced in The Fall Guy on one of Ryder’s sticky notes in his Sydney loft that read: “Is it Mamoa or Momoa?”
There are a couple of funny bits in the trailer: Jody Moreno is called a “visionary director”, and the new producer is Alma Milan. If you were wondering who that is, it’s the character played by Stephanie Hsu (Everything Everywhere All at Once) who shows up briefly—with a few dogs and the following action sequence that’s set in a dumpster truck. In exchange for giving Tom’s phone to Colt, Alma had asked for a producer’s credit on Metalstorm. And it seems like Colt held up his end of the deal.
Otherwise, it’s made up of footage we’ve seen elsewhere in The Fall Guy. With just one change—Tom’s ridiculous monologue has been replaced by Momoa saying the same thing. As the Metalstorm trailer ends, we learn that it was playing in Hall H at San Diego Comic-Con, a common refrain across the film. (The Fall Guy is very geek-forward, in that sense.) Jody walks onto the stage for wild applause and the rest of the team is in the audience, along with Jean Claude the dog sporting sunglasses.
Following that ending, The Fall Guy rolls into the end credits which are paired with behind-the-scenes footage of what it took to pull off the film’s staggering stunts.
The Fall Guy post-credits scene, explained
The end credits of The Fall Guy are interrupted by the words “previously in The Fall Guy” on screen. Curiously, the post-credits scene takes place prior to the ending as we head back to the Sydney beach where we had gotten the dramatic conclusion.
The murderer Tom and Metalstorm producer Gail (Hannah Waddingham) are back on the ground, having originally attempted to escape in a helicopter with the audio of Tom’s confession. (That didn’t go so well for them, thanks to Colt’s bravura.) They are “arrested” by a bunch of police officers before they realise it’s just the crew in prop uniforms. You can see “Fall Guy” written on their blue caps.
But what’s more interesting about the cops is who’s playing them. Among them are Lee Majors and Heather Thomas, the lead stars of The Fall Guy, the 1980s TV series that inspired this movie. For five seasons, Majors played Colt Seavers, a stuntman who worked as a bounty hunter on the side, while Thomas played fellow stuntwoman Jody Banks. The Fall Guy post-credits scene is basically an Easter egg for fans of the original series. And unless you know Majors and Thomas, you’re likely to miss them given their brief appearance.
Anyhoo, back to the scene. Tom runs away, flailing as he rings his agent who he expects to take care of the matter. The camera pans to a sign that warns the cast and crew to stay off that part of the beach. Tom is then hit with a series of pyrotechnics. It’s another jab at how the star has no idea what it takes to do your own stunts. In the backseat of a car, Tom’s personal assistant—and future Metalstorm producer—Alma asks someone on the phone to get her Jason Momoa’s agent.
With over eight years of experience across media—text, video, and podcasts—in a myriad of beats, including movies, TV shows, video gaming, and technology, Akhil has been the definition of versatility across his career. He has interviewed the likes of Christian Bale and Anurag Kashyap, covered events across the globe, and reviewed everything from American blockbusters to Indian dramas from a global socio-political and feminist perspective. When he is not completely caught up with new film and TV releases, Akhil can be found gaming away—for work—on his PS5, Nintendo Switch, or Xbox Series X. Akhil is also the co-founder, co-host, and co-editor of the movie podcast The Long Take.
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