Ryan Gosling in The Fall Guy (Universal Pictures)

Ryan Gosling may be the star of The Fall Guy, but director David Leitch is its clear authority figure. Stunt work, after all, is where Leitch got his start, doubling for the likes of Brad Pitt and Jean-Claude Van Damme before he and collaborator Chad Stahelski launched John Wick into the action movie pantheon. So, it’s obvious he not only has a reverence for stunts but an understanding of how tough, yet essential, stuntmen are to a movie’s success.

Prior films by Leitch, from Atomic Blonde to Bullet Train, have been lauded for their top-notch fight scenes, but they lagged in the plot department. At best, they fell under “strictly passable” territory without the same complexity as the brawls and gun-fu sequences in between story beats. Like those movies, The Fall Guy is another adaptation, drawing loose inspiration from the Lee Majors 1980s series about a stuntman with a side gig as a bounty hunter, and giving it some modern flair. Yet its sincerity, meta-humor, and impressive stunts, combined with the genuine chemistry between Gosling and co-star Emily Blunt, give The Fall Guy a more engaging narrative that will surely please crowds and earn it rewatches on cable.

Gosling, who starred in 2011’s Drive, is no stranger to playing a stuntman tied up in a web of criminal activity and romance, even if the tone here is more on the lighter side. This time, he’s Colt Seavers, a man very good at what he does in the movie business, be it jumping off ledges, getting set on fire, and doing cannon rolls with multiple midair flips. All that is nothing compared to putting up with egotistical movie star/diva Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), but he still enjoys the work if it means hanging out with his girlfriend/camerawoman Jody Moreno (Blunt). Sadly, an on-set stunt does not go according to plan, and left incapacitated and shamed by the experience, Colt withdraws from everything. Jody included.

Only after he gets a call from Tom’s producer, Gail Meyer (Hannah Waddingham), months later does Colt snap out of his funk, traveling to Sydney for what he thinks is a role in Jody’s sci-fi action directorial debut Metalstorm. But it turns out Gail was lying about Jody requesting Colt. She’s still peeved at him for walking out on what they had together. Really, he has been brought in for more personal/financial reasons. Tom is missing and, if the star isn’t found, the studio will pull the plug on Jody’s hard work. So, as someone who knows how to mimic Tom and move under the radar, Colt is the man for the job. Even if it means investigating a murder, fighting off goons, and, at one point, hallucinating a unicorn while drugged.

That mystery might be its central plot device, but at heart, this movie is a celebration of filmmaking, with its behind-the-scenes focus on the stunts and their safety precautions. Meta jabs about product placement and script rewrites are aplenty, but the practice of the craft can’t help but make you cheer on Colt and fellow stuntman Dan Tucker (Winston Duke), who risk it all for a picture’s sake. Such commitment lends itself well to the fights themselves, providing a robust demonstration of Colt’s abilities as he overcomes shootouts, handcuffed jetboat chases, and even fisticuffs on a tailgate like it’s another day on the job.

Like in Barbie or The Nice Guys, Gosling has a knack for physical comedy and throwing himself into absurd predicaments with gusto, all while retaining his lovestruck everyman vibe despite his six-pack abs and movie star looks. And there is a sweetness to Gosling and Blunt’s romantic comedy hurdles that Leitch takes full advantage of, often in the more creative non-fight sequences: Jody’s chastises Colt for their breakup while filming multiple takes of him getting thrown into a wall (while set on fire), much to the amusement of her cast and crew. You just want to see them get back together, a feeling that adds as much spark to the film as any pyrotechnic accomplishment.

Sometimes The Fall Guy’s tongue-in-cheek nature ends up a bit too self-fulfilling. For all the jokes about Jody struggling to figure out Metalstorm’s third act, the movie itself contains at least two drawn-out endings. But The Fall Guy keeps its pace snappy and its screwball banter sharp. It’s about the unsung heroes of Hollywood and all the work they do to make people want to go to the movies. That alone should give audiences a reason to check this one out, and maybe petition for a Best Stunt Oscar category while they’re at it.