Weekend Watch: The Fall Guy, Hacks Season 3

Ryan Gosling's cunning stunts and Jean Smart's sarcastic quips

Image Credit: Universal Pictures

Welcome to the latest edition of Weekend Watch, where I recommend (or occasionally warn against) movies or TV shows I’ve been checking out. This week, Ryan Gosling’s a stuntman and Jean Smart is a stand-up. Follow James on Twitter: @jamwhite and Threads/Instagram: @jammerwhite

Given the Kenergy he brought to last year’s Barbie (and this year’s Oscar ceremony), Ryan Gosling continues to prove he’s one of the most adaptable stars out there –– he can do brooding, weighty drama and he can also make a total arse of himself, showing real vulnerability when required for both comedic and dramatic effect.

With The Fall Guy, he’s still in that second space, playing film set stuntman Colt Severs (yes, the film adapts the 1980s TV series I enjoyed along with the likes of The A-Team and Knight Rider), who suffers an injury that shatters his confidence, craters his previously successful career and ruins his budding romantic relationship with camera operator Jody Moreno (Emily Blunt). He’s drawn back into the world when a star goes missing –– from Jody’s directorial debut, no less –– and Colt is asked to track him down.

This was pretty much the perfect assignment for director David Leitch (who started his career working in the stunt department and has since made the likes of the original John Wick, Atomic Blonde and Bullet Train), who brings his years of experience and love for the art and craft of stunt professionals to what is effectively a love letter to their work.

With a script from Iron Man 3’s Drew Pearce that combines action and screwball comedy-style dialogue, The Fall Guy is a big win for all involved. Though he’s the focus, Gosling is matched beat-for-beat by Blunt, and the two share a warm, funny chemistry. Around them, Aaron Taylor-Johnson is clearly having a blast as smug playboy actor Tom Ryder, the star that Colt has spent years making look like an action hero, the always-excellent Winston Duke is Colt’s movie-quoting stunt colleague Dan Tucker and Hannah Waddingham chews scenery as officious producer Gail Meyer. And not forgetting a memorable supporting role from Stephanie Hsu as Ryder’s harried assistant, Alma Milan.

The mystery story that brings Colt back to a set (Jody’s set, her first as a director) is mostly fluff designed to support the jokes, the character moments and some stupendous stunts, but The Fall Guy works on all of its levels. Summer might be hurting for big, fun films this year, but this is the ideal way to kick it off. Oh, and stick around for the credits.

The Fall Guy is in UK and US cinemas now.

Image Credit: Warner Bros. Discovery

In an age where comedies such as I Think You Should Leave With Tim Robinson shove boundaries, Hacks almost feels like a throwback. Not that it doesn’t tackle modern topics such as mental health, fame and women in comedy, but it feels like a basic format (older, famous comic mentors younger hungrier writer, culture clash occurs) and layers smart writing and great performances on top.

Hacks follows Deborah Vance (the ever-luminous Jean Smart), a veteran comedian with an established Vegas residency and a huge career, but the lingering feeling that she’s no longer as relevant or respected as she once was sees her begrudgingly agree to take on a new writer, Ava (Hannah Einbinder), who is struggling in the cutthroat world of TV in Los Angeles.

Ava and Deborah are not natural friends or co-workers, and that tension is a central tenet of the show, while a variety of oddball characters orbit around the central pair.

In Season 3, their relationship is more like a cold war. After Deborah sued Ava for having used their interaction as fodder for her work, the older woman is throwing herself into work and seeing her career advance after her latest stand-up special plays to great acclaim. Ava, meanwhile, is back working in LA, and is living with her on-again, off-again girlfriend.

But because the show needs them back in each other’s spheres, Deborah reaches out to Ava, looking to put the tension behind them and work together again. Along the way, they realize they need each other more than they thought. But that doesn’t mean it’ll all be easy…

The third season shows once again why the series works –– Smart is, of course excellent, while Einbinder brings a fantastically nervy energy to Ava. The supporting cast is also great, including co-creator/co-showrunner Paul W. Downs, who plays Jimmy, the pair’s shared manager, who in this run of episodes is trying to set his own business up. He’s aided –– and often hindered –– by assistant-turned-business partner Kayla (Meg Stalter), who provides a lot of the nutty comic energy in their scenes.

A highlight this year is Succession’s J. Smith Cameron, who plays Deborah’s sister, who is even more estranged than Ava. Cameron is perfect in the role; a great foil for Smart and someone you can find sympathy for even knowing what she did to her sister.

Hacks is back, and I’m very thankful for that.

Hacks Season 3 starts in the US with two episodes on Max on 2 May. It should be streaming in the UK on Prime Video. I’ve seen the whole season.