Unlike many Japanese comedies, Fall Guy is highly accessible to American audiences. It's a behind-the-scenes movieland farce about insufferably vain actors and their sycophantic retainers; Morio Kazama's spoiled peacock of an action star will do anything to get an extra close-up and treats those around him like dirt. The stylized script invents its own exaggerated version of movie life, with bickering technicians, executives in suits and an army of underpaid actors that get sliced up with samurai swords in overplayed action scenes.

The comedy is sometimes on the coarse side, but Fukasaku employs a sentimental hook that's hard to resist. In the first scene, the despairing Konatsu is more or less raped by the abusive star Ginshiro right in Yasu's tiny apartment. The caste system being what it is, Yasu is expected to dutifully approve of whatever awful behavior Ginshiro comes up with, which is plenty. After their legal marriage, there follows an enormously entertaining sequence in which Yasu volunteers for stunt after dangerous stunt, earning a reputation for doing anything risky as long as there's a paycheck in it.

After all the nasty and grim violence in Fukasaku's yakuza movies, the excellently directed comic mayhem is a lot of fun. Yasu changes his makeup and costume so quickly that he can volunteer to be more than one swordplay victim in the same scene.

Amusing actor Mitsiru Hirata is an excellent clown, reeling from injuries and rushing back for more punishment. But his character also builds a serious dimension as Fall Guy realigns itself to the pregnant Konatsu's point-of-view. The scenes at home with Yasu's mother are quite affecting, and Yasu's later crisis of confidence - he has a hard time believing that Konatsu respects him - successfully deepens the drama.

The ending is a little more perplexing. Yasu volunteers to do the certain-death staircase fall and becomes the center of attention. It's more than a little similar to the Richard Rush film The Stunt Man, a probable inspiration. With the entire crew waiting upon him Yasu becomes as domineering and abusive as Ginshiro, and for a moment we don't know where the picture is going. As it is, everything ends on a giddy note, with the cast singing the studio song over the end credits.

The beautiful Keiko Matsuzaka carries her role with elegance, especially after the rape scene. She's a nice contrast with the spoiled brat Tomoko (Chika Takami), one of Ginshiro's momentary flings. The script makes some good statements about the Japanese system of status hierarchy. The Ginshiros of the company get to run wild without consequences while the lowly Yasus must grovel and abase themselves to stay employed. Yasu is always resorting to exaggerated rationalizations to maintain his personal dignity.

Martial arts fans will be interested to see Sonny Chiba as an actor in the film-within-a-film action scenes.

Home Vision's DVD of Fall Guy is a perfect enhanced transfer of Fukasaku's colorful, fast-paced sentimental comedy. Masato Kai's bouncy music score hasn't dated and to Western eyes the film will look as if it were brand new.

Sadao Yamane is featured in an informative interview docu, explaining many of the details of the production context that wouldn't be apparent to fans unfamiliar with the Japanese movie industry. The trailer is a cute and smart teaser that plays almost like a Jean-Luc Godard item, with behind the scenes shots of the director and producer and a humorous tagline for an ending.

On a scale of Excellent, Good, Fair, and Poor, Fall Guy rates:
Movie: Very Good
Video: Excellent
Sound: Excellent
Supplements: Sadao Yamane interview, teaser trailer, filmography
Packaging: Keep case
Reviewed: February 13, 2005