Double Random Movie Review - Love Lies Bleeding + The Fall Guy

 

So I watched 2 films in this past week. One blockbuster about a stuntman and an A24 film about Lesbian gym lovers. Two films where the only things they have in common is having guns, people falling (pun intended), two lovebirds and a lot of physical work, among possibly many other things. They also both star some big names like Ryan Gosling, Emily Blunt, Kirsten Stewart, Dave, Franco, Ed Harris, Aaron-Taylor Johnson and many more. So star power for both films is there in force. Let's have a look at them:

Love Lies Bleeding

So let's start with the A24 film. Set in 1989, a reclusive gym manager called Lou (played by Kirsten Stewart), falls in love with an ambitious bodybuilder called Jackie (played by Katy O'Brian). Due to Lou being associated with a crime family because of her dad Lou Langston Sr. (played by Ed Harris), the pair find themselves committing murders and organized crime and try to find a way out of it. But things start to go a little weird and crazy, as is tradition with most A24 films. Having seen loads of A24 films now, I don't really know for sure which one I would consider the best of them. But saying that, I did enjoy this film, even if the body building psychological parts were a little unsettling. Plus, I'm all for films that feature LGBTQ+ content as people become more and more aware that they can be who they want to be and not what others expect them to be. It's well acted, definitely got the 80s vibes down and yeah it is among A24's best films I would say. 8/10

The Fall Guy

Now for a film about a stuntman. Loosely based on the 1980s TV show of the same name, we follow a stuntman called Colt Seavers (played by Ryan Gosling) who is the stunt double of actor Tom Ryder (played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and secretly has an on and off relationship with camerawoman Jody Moreno (played by Emily Blunt). When an unfortunate incident occurs during the filming of one of Ryder's films, Colt retires from being a stuntman. But is soon bought back when Jody becomes director of a film of her own and also because the producer of her film, Gail Meyer (played by Hannah Waddingham) needs Colt to find Ryder who has been missing on set for quite some time. But there may be more to it. I and some people I know, had a few reservations about this film. But after seeing it (in IMAX no less), I thought it was OK. It gave me a great deal more respect for the stuntman that have to put up with some pretty douche actors who make false claims about doing their own stunts, are full of themselves and take the world for granted. The comedy is good, the action scenes are great. Parts do feel a little predictable in places, but not too distracting. The chemistry between the two main leads is definitely believable and from the guy that made Bullet Train, he has definitely made his mark in films. 9/10

So yeah, two pretty good films worth watching if you like gyms, LGBTQ stuff, weird things, movie making, stuntmen, romance and sex and many more things too.