The scapegoat (now streaming on VOD services like Amazon Prime Video) exists for two reasons: one, as stuntman-turned-director David Leitch’s affectionate tribute to his former profession. And two, to grant us, the unworthy masses, a romance between characters played by the two most attractive and charming actors in Hollywood, Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt (it’s true and objectively indisputable; don’t fight me on this). one). The film is loosely based on the television series of the same name that aired 40 years ago and allows Leitch to exploit things he’s familiar with, namely self-referential humor (he directed Deadpool 2remember) and highly kinetic action sequences (atomic blondeand was the uncredited co-director of John Wick). Curiously, for all the star power and promise of a great time spectacle perfect for the big screen, the film underperformed at the box office: It was supposed to kick off the summer 2024 movie season with an explosion, not with a failure. . Frankly, I don’t know why you ridiculous people didn’t go see this movie. It’s fun!
THE BOY OF THE FALL: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
The essence: We open with a scene that’s not supposed to be meta, but unfortunately ended up being meta: stuntman Colt Seavers (Gosling) takes a brutal fall on a movie set and ends up recoiling and licking his wounds, which is a metaphor for performance. at the box office The scapegoat. IT SHOULD NOT BE THIS WAY. I mean, The scapegoat It’s a very good movie and Colt Seavers is a very good stuntman, and they deserve better! Colt was doing pretty well before that, doing what stuntmen do: sacrificing his body to achieve a movie’s most difficult shots while the star above him, in this case Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) ), takes all the glory and brags about how he does his own stunts. Colt isn’t too hurt by it, though. This is the business and he knows it. It sure helps that he gets the girl at the end of the day, Jody Moreno (Blunt), the camera operator who wants to go sit on the beach with him and caress his face after this silly movie shoot is over. Too bad it all ended soon for Colt, who broke his back and sank into such a deep depression that he let a radiant human being played by Emily Blunt escape. What a fool he is.
Eighteen months later, Colt parks his cars and descends into chaos when film producer Gail Meyer (Hannah Waddingham) stops drinking Diet Coke long enough to call him. He’s in Australia, where Tom Ryder stars in a gigantic-budget sci-fi/action/romance movie titled metal storm. Ryder’s stunt double is Kaputskies and they need Colt to come in and roll some cars and set them on fire and all that. No, thanks is his response, until Gail sets the bait: this stupid movie is Jody’s directorial debut. Production is in trouble. If Colt comes in and nails the big action shots, he’ll save the movie. Will he manage to get the girl back too? He hopes so. He hops on a plane and shows up on the set of this future show that resembles an unholy mix of path of fury, Starship Troopers and Dune and features a logo that looks like a Metallica copyright lawsuit waiting to happen. Actually, the movie REALLY reminds me Cowboys and Aliens. Remember Cowboys and Aliens? It was a movie I regretted paying to see. How stupid that was.
Anyway. Colt shows up on set and blurts out a “don’t call it that.”path of fury-The car about eight times, crawls out of the rubble and watches Jody’s jaw hit the ground. She didn’t know he was coming and now she has mixed emotions about it. Friend cheated on her hard. You can still see the glue seams on the heart of it. There’s a funny part where they discuss the “romantic plot” in “the script” over megaphones so everyone on set can hear them failing to pretend they’re not actually talking about their relationship problems, and then she does Le they light a fire and throw it against some rocks over and over again because sometimes you just need to do a few extra takes, you know? Of course, pure creative decision of a director. I have to get coverage!
Then Gail, who I should point out is a complete maniac, takes Colt aside. The real reason she called him here? Ryder is AWOL, and that’s precisely why metal storm You are putting it directly into the tank. She needs Colt to find Ryder, who subsequently finds our man chasing the wild goose all over Melbourne, which is when we find out about this movie. The scapegoat, is a parody of action movies in which ordinary people can suddenly become expert pugilists who also master parkour, shooting, and any skill that dictates one survive car chases, foot chases, boat chases, and more. Of course, incredibly complicated explosions. . Is it just me or is this all specific to specialists? It might as well be!
What movies will it remind you of?: You can’t watch Ryan Gosling play a stunt driver without thinking of the best movie of the 21st century so far. blue valentine. Hey, I mean, Drive. Other odes to specialists: Tarantino’s proof of deathBurt Reynolds vehicle CooperTarantino once upon a time in hollywood. And tonally, The scapegoat is in line with the recent Jake Gyllenhaal road house remake, which was similar in its nod to the action glories of the ’80s.
Performance worth seeing: I feel like Gosling has been at the top of his game since Half Nelson – and which debuted 18 years ago. (I even liked it First man. you should try to like it First man Also!) That he’s able to balance the sad sack/tough role in this highly comedic comedy should surprise no one. That said, it’s too obvious a choice for this particular recognition, so let’s leave the PWW to Ted LassoIt’s Waddingham, who gleefully steals a handful of scenes as the sociopathic movie producer.
Memorable dialogue: While searching for Ryder, Colt talks to a filthy drug dealer about his work as a stuntman:
Disgusting drug dealer: Do you get Oscars for that?
colt: no.
(Big pause for everyone at the Academy to feel stupid about this)
Sex and skin: Does anyone else think it’s criminal to cast Gosling and Blunt as romantic leads and not even give us a PG-13 sex scene? Officer, arrest these people!
Our opinion: I would love to see all of Tom Ryder’s films, represented on posters in his trailer: You have Annihilation of value, action pact and Bad cop, good dog, although I think they’re just slightly modified versions of real-life Chuck Norris movies, which are all gems, I’m telling you, GEMS. Where was he? Right, what kind of moron wouldn’t enjoy it? The scapegoat? Sure, it sticks its nose up its ass, spoofing filmmaking, especially the ridiculous, expensive, high-concept blockbusters, but at least it makes reference. The fast and the furious and The last of the mohicans instead of, I don’t know, Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Brussels or something.
There have been many movies about movies and how great they are, some of which we would like to throw into the sea. The artist and man it occurs to me; They have aged like milk in a sauna, but few have prepared themselves to be their own jokes like Leitch’s shamelessly flippant one. Scapegoat (If specialists can be psychoanalyzed as masochists, why shouldn’t they also become the butt of their own jokes?) Metacomedy walks a fine line; It may be sandpaper in squeaky underpants or flat as a pancake under a comatose hippo, but this movie hits the vast majority of its comedic marks, starting with a joke in which Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s character says it’s too easy. They see Ryan Gosling’s character’s face in one shot, so they need to reshoot it. Now, it’s not worth asking the question of whether we would prefer to see Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s face or Ryan Gosling’s. Painfully obvious, isn’t it? It seems Taylor-Johnson is in good spirits about this, or at least relieved by the opportunity to play a McConaughey-esque slurring space cowboy in the movie-within-the-movie. Seems like a fair trade.
The crackling comedy extends to the romantic chemistry between Blunt and Gosling, who maintain a brisk, dynamic pace that keeps us on our toes and trying to keep up with a series of rapid-fire, multi-layered jokes (which Leitch cleverly enhances with visuals). and physical jokes). Without that central relationship, however loose it may be (hey, Colt and Jody’s careers and happiness are at stake, so don’t say the stakes are low), the film could crumble under the weight. The weight of its postmodern indulgences, which range from jokes about CGI and deepfake technology in action movies (dare you see those things here!) to needle drops that look like product placement because the biggest ones are by Taylor Swift (this one ). It’s certainly a great joke) and Kiss (a reworked version of “I Was Made for Lovin’ You” routinely appears as a cockroach).
I really appreciated a fantastic sequence that crosses between a completely over-the-top car chase and Blunt singing “Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)” in a karaoke bar, and the self-conscious gender reversal of the artist-muse dynamic as Judy he realizes that Colt offers him the inspiration he needs metal storm Out of the ordinary and ready to be promoted at Comic-Con. The film absolutely works its way through the third act, which is calculated to pay great homage to the stuntmen and therefore emphasizes the action to the point where the plot almost disintegrates. Clear point: people who risk their lives and physical integrity deserve greater recognition, without a doubt. But at least they have a sense of humor about it.
Our call: The scapegoat It’s a riot. You should have seen it at the movies, where it’s bigger, better, and funnier, but if you STREAM IT, it’s better than nothing.
John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic living in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
