When Ryan Gosling’s Sierra Six started spouting multiple lines of dialogue during the opening sequence of The Gray Man, I was unnerved. Shook, as the younger gens might say. Gosling had spent the last years of his career playing taciturn characters who put action ahead of words. Listening to his opening monologue at the start of The Fall Guy, it became clear that speech was going to be another priority too. Plus, Gosling recently said he’s stopping playing darker roles for the sake of his family. So maybe we won’t be seeing Arthouse Goz any time soon. And that’s ok. But first, here’s a few hot takes right out of the inanimate oven:
Sierra Six (The Gray Man): A parody of the silent hero character Gosling plays in Drive
Ken (Barbie): A parodic switcheroo of Joi from Blade Runner 2049, with Gosling playing the robotic character willing to do anything for Barbie’s love and affection. Initially, anyway
Colt Seavers (The Fall Guy): An alternate reality where Driver’s daytime stunt career kicks off in a big way, causing him to leave the crime life and start appreciating Fast and Furious
Yeah, just getting that out of my system. Loosely based on the 80s TV series, Gosling plays Colt Seavers, a professional stuntman with a major crush on up-and-coming director Jody Moreno (Emily Blunt on fine comedic form). After an accident on set, Seavers disappears, only to be brought back into the fold to try and track down Tom Ryder, the airhead acting star he used to perform stunts for. Seavers bashfully tells the audience that he’s not the hero of this story, but come on. This is Ryan frickin’ Gosling right here. Of course he’s the hero.
The Fall Guy is drenched in love for the unseen and frequently disregarded stuntmen on camera (director David Leitch has been involved in the industry for years), but it’s also steeped in movie lore. You want to hear diverse film references from Love Actually to Memento? Don’t worry, you got ‘em. And there’s even a funny Bourne Ultimatum water scene too (Leitch and his team picked up two Screen Actors Guild awards for their work on the 2007 film). Although Gosling plays the titular stunt driver, you won’t be seeing any denim clothes or scorpion jackets on display. Nope, you’ll be seeing him in a backwards cap (it’s hard to take any grown human wearing a backwards hat and take them seriously, come on) as well as a particularly vibrant ensemble involving a fluorescent beanie and gown. Plus, there are hallucinatory unicorns too (a Blade Runner reference perhaps, hm? Perhaps not).
Gosling and Blunt deliver great romantic chemistry as the mystery unfolds, and even if it’s not too hard to guess who the bad guys really are, it’s a heck of a lot of fun to see the action play out. Plus, shout out to the trained dog for recognising commands in both English and French simultaneously, and for generally being a good boy. An endearing love letter to the stunt industry with a lot of spark from its two leads, there’s plenty to enjoy in this romantic caper.
Other Potential Ryan Gosling Projects
Blade Runner 2099
Yes, if you happened to watch Denis Villeneuve’s majestic Blade Runner 2049, you may have noticed that, by the end of the film, K is kind of…dead. But that doesn’t mean he can’t come back. Ana Stelline seems like a talented kind of person, and she’d probably be capable of restoring his consciousness in some way or other.
Ridley Scott’s upcoming TV series started shooting last month and remains tightly under wraps. If I could’ve teleported myself to Prague and spent a few days watching the show being filmed, dear reader, I would have. But unfortunately, that’s not how the film industry works. Anyway, there’s some potential for K to come back. We’ll have to wait and see.
Project Hail Mary
Gosling is reportedly signed on to play the main character in this one, a sci-fi film based on The Martian author Andy Weir‘s 2021 novel of the same name. This has apparently been in production for a while, despite only coming out a few years ago. It might have some arthouse potential for Gosling in the vein of First Man, but then again, maybe not. I haven’t got round to reading the book yet, but it could have some comedic elements like The Martian which could scupper things. Anyway, I’m open-minded, so let’s wait and see how this one turns out.
The Wolfman
First he was the First Man, and now he’s…The Wolfman. Not sure what to expect here, but if this is taken as a serious horror, it could be very intriguing. Only time will tell.
Ocean’s Eleven Remake (Rumoured)
Apparently Gosling’s been in talks to play the character George Clooney played in the earlier film. Not completely confirmed yet, but could be intriguing.