Sumith Prasad
In David Leitch’s action comedy film ‘The Fall Guy,’ Jody Moreno is a debutant director whose wish to helm an epic science fiction flick titled ‘Metalstorm’ is challenged by the disappearance of the lead actor, Tom Ryder. When Colt Seavers realizes that his ex-girlfriend’s career will be over if he doesn’t find Tom, he follows the breadcrumbs left behind by the performer to find him. Since Leitch has years of experience in the industry as a stuntman, one can’t be blamed for wondering whether Jody is based on a real director he worked with. Well, that isn’t the case!
The Intricate Creation of Jody Moreno
Jody Moreno doesn’t have a real-life counterpart. The fictional character was originally created by Glen A. Larson for his ABC series, ‘The Fall Guy,’ the source material of David Leitch’s movie. However, Larson’s Jody is drastically different from Emily Blunt’s character in the action comedy. In the series, Jody is a stuntwoman who occasionally joins Colt Seavers to solve varying cases. When Leitch set out to reboot the series for his film, along with his screenwriter Drew Pearce and producing partner Kelly McCormick, the initial idea was to make Jody a make-up artist.
“Emily’s role was a make-up artist when we sold it, and we converted it to first-time directing right before we gave her a very rough draft,” Kelly told Total Film. The profession was then changed to movie direction to add immense pressure on the shoulders of the character, which justifies Colt putting his life on the line for her. “It made it feel like [the character] had more pressure on her,” the producer added. The narrative of the film grows from the foundation of Colt trying to ensure that his ex-girlfriend’s career will not be over due to the disappearance of Tom, the lead actor. For such a foundation to work, Jody has to be a director.
“We thought that this was just a great setup. She [Jody] was getting this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that she had dreamed of for so long, and she thought she had settled things with her ex and had put it to bed, and then next thing you know—actually, the one thing that could probably shake her—has shown up,” Kelly clarified to Vanity Fair. Even though Jody is not based on any particular director, several prominent filmmakers, including the unparalleled Greta Gerwig, did inspire Emily to craft her performance. “With the warmth and the charm, I guess there’s a little Greta in there. She was a mix of a few other people I’d met and pulled from,” the actress said in the same Total Film interview.
Metalstorm: The Real and Reel Movies
Let us be clear: Jody’s passion project, ‘Metalstorm,’ is fictional like her. A science fiction epic love story that revolves around the romance between an alien woman and a cowboy man, as the movie within the movie depicts, doesn’t exist in reality. Having said that, the imaginary project can be paralleled with horror comedy legend Charles Band’s 1983 film ‘Metalstorm: The Destruction of Jared-Syn.’ Both movies even share the same tagline: “It’s High Noon at the End of the Universe.” In addition, Charles’ project was distributed by Universal Pictures, the banner behind ‘The Fall Guy,’ as well.
However, the connections between the two ‘Metalstorm’ movies end there. Rather than a love story, the 1983 film follows a space ranger’s efforts to find an intergalactic criminal with supernatural powers. If we delve deeper into Jody’s ‘Metalstorm,’ it may appear as a parody version of Denis Villeneuve’s science-fiction epic ‘Dune.’ The dry, desert landscape reminds us of not only ‘Dune’ but also George Miller’s ‘Mad Max: Fury Road.’ The creation of ‘Metalstorm’ as a sci-fi epic is justified since Jody’s movie has to be a big-budget, high-profile production that needs to be saved. A look at the most expensive films of all time makes it clear that science fiction is the genre to go with to build the aforementioned pressure on Jody.
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