The Fall Guy is another pointless re-imagining of an old television series that is made watchable by competent casting. It’s not the greatest of cinematic endeavors, but it manages to avoid dumpster fire status.

The director is David Leitch with the script provided by Drew Pearce. It’s loosely based on the 1980’s television series created by Glen A. Larson, and by “loosely” that means it’s a virtually unrecognizable to the program that starred Lee Majors. Ryan Gosling is in the lead role of Colt Seavers. Emily Blunt is the love interest here, which is an understandable casting choice. Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Hannah Waddington, and Winston Duke are also included in the cast.

The story begins with Colt Seavers getting severely injured in a movie mishap and deciding to put pause in his stunt career. He also withdrew from his girlfriend, played by Blunt. He gets a phone call that gets him back onto the set where he has to revive the old skills after a year and a half away. When the narcissistic star of the film disappears, Colt is asked to scrounge him up and get him back to work. Instead, Colt finds a dead body and a squad of mercenaries on his heels. He wants to rekindle an old romance, but he has to resolve a little life and death situation that has fallen into his lap.

Leitch pulls out all the stops when it comes to the stunts and special effects. It’s ludicrously over the top, but Gosling and Blunt are just compelling enough to keep me interested. The complicated love story between the two lead characters is actually pretty well realized. The moment where Colt reveals why he withdrew from his girlfriend after his accident is actually kind of moving and well written. I didn’t get choked up or anything, but I was impressed with the script in that moment, and Gosling gives a pretty convincing performance.

The film is a little uneven when it comes to the overall experience. There are some genuinely funny moments, but story drags a bit at times. The plot isn’t that bad, but the craziness of the stunts and visual effects could be a little distracting. It’s another film where I enjoyed it a little more than I expected, but there was still little need for another reboot.