Genre: Action/Comedy
Director: Jon Favreau
Writer: Chad Taylor
Based on the television series
Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Jason Momoa, Glen Powell, Wesley Snipes, Eiza Gonzalez, Gabrielle Union, Evan Alex, Ed Begley Jr.
Plot: Colt Seavers (Dwayne Johnson) has been a stuntman in Hollywood nearly his entire adult life. He hard work makes movie magic but his role means he’s fairly anonymous while well-known movie stars take the spotlight. He’s a tough guy but 25 years of work has taken a toll on his body and it’s not the highest paying job in the world. And in an industry such as this, Colt finds his amount of work slipping increasingly in favor of younger stunt workers. And so, like others in his profession, he has had to find a side hustle to make ends meet.
For Colt, he has recently found work as a fugitive recovery agent AKA a bounty hunter. By the order of the law, he hunts down people who have jumped bail and are avoiding the court. Bounty hunters have capabilities that exceed that of regular law enforcement (such as crossing state lines and not requiring warrants). Some jobs require going undercover while others risk the hunter’s livelihood - something Colt is used to in his other job, anyways.
Colt meets up with Vaughn (Wesley Snipes), the bail bondsman that employs him. Vaughn’s assistant Rosa (Eiza Gonzalez) gives him the details on his next job. Rosa is the main point-of-contact for Colt, giving him all the intel he needs on the suspect while Vaughn runs the show. Colt and Rosa have taken a mutual liking to one another but Vaughn doesn’t play any games and needs them both to focus on their jobs so he shuts things down anytime he senses flirtation between the two.
The latest job involves a criminal who has been spotted visiting a neighborhood gas station multiple times. Colt goes undercover in the mundane job of a cashier. After having worked undercover all day, the target finally arrives. When he checks out, Colt tells him he is under arrest and the criminal flees. He climbs into the ceiling of the store, hoping to escape that way. Colt climbs atop a shelf and listens for movements. When the time is right, he punches into the ceiling and finds that he has punched the man in the groin - actually hurting his own hand in the process. The man is now in agony so Colt grabs his leg and pulls him through the ceiling tiles.
In his other occupation, Colt is doing the stunts for successful actor Don Santo (Jason Momoa). Given their similar physique, Colt and Santo have worked together frequently over the years and developed a macho friendship. Santo asks Colt about the bandage on his hand and Colt tells him about punching the man through the ceiling in the junk. They laugh about it.
Colt’s home life is a bit tumultuous at the moment. He is recently divorced from his wife Sondra (Gabrielle Union), an actress whom he met on a film set years ago. Since their marriage fell apart, she has now rebounded with her much younger co-star, promising up-and-comer Lyle Harrison (Glen Powell). Colt and Sondra have joint custody of their son Jalen (Evan Alex) and they are on amicable terms so Colt meets Lyle for the first time at a Thanksgiving gathering hosted by Sondra. Colt’s quiet, humble nature clashes with Lyle’s brash personality. To make matters worse, upon learning Colt’s line of work, Lyle boasts about how he does all of his own stunts on his movies. Colt takes this as a slight towards himself and stuntmen, but Sondra tells him to behave as this is the potential step-father to his son.
The next day, Colt gives Jalen a tour of the movie set. He runs through the stunts he’s set for for today and his son is impressed. He shows him how the fake guns and other props work on set. He even introduces him to Don Santo, leaving Jalen star struck. Colt is clearly annoyed by the Celebrity Glow and the effect it has on people, including his own son. He helps make someone like Santo a star. Colt complains that his hand injury seems to be getting worse. When Jalen asks what injured it, Colt makes up a lie on the spot. Colt suddenly realizes that he forgot to take Jalen to his pee-wee football game. They load up in his red-and-black pick-up truck and Colt weaves in and out of L.A. traffic to get him to the game.
When they get to the recreation park, Colt realizes that the game has already started. He is disappointed at himself in disappointing Jalen. The coach still decides to let Jalen play while Colt apologizes profusely. Lyle and Sondra are in attendance and very disappointed in him (as they field autographs from random spectators). Mid-game, he gets a call from Rosa telling him they have a potential situation that only he is fit for and that he needs to meet with them immediately. He quietly slips away from the bleachers but before he reaches his car, he is blocked by Lyle (who has been trailing him).
Lyle asks why he keeps ignoring his son like he is. Colt says that a work issue came up but Lyle doesn’t believe him. Lyle is disappointed and says that Jalen needs them to both be good fathers for him to succeed in life. Colt is actually surprised to hear this coming from a young hotshot like Lyle.
Lyle then asks if this has to do with bounty hunting. Colt is taken aback but Lyle tells him that Sondra let him know what Colt does on the side. Seeing it as another feat to accomplish, Lyle says he wants in. Colt immediately rejects him but Lyle says that Sondra still thinks he gave up that job - something she wanted him to do for Jalen’s sake. Lyle will keep it a secret - and cover for him leaving the game early - if Colt includes him on one of his missions. Seeing that his hand injury is getting worse, Colt reluctantly accepts but tells Lyle he has to take this seriously.
Rosa and Vaughn tell Colt that his latest mission is on a private yacht in the Pacific. They believe that the target - a white-collar criminal named Joe, who is charged with money laundering - is using friends in high places to escape the country while out on bail. When Vaughn leaves the room, Rosa tells him that she feels like there will be high-level security on this ship and that this might be a two-man job. Colt rolls his eyes and reluctantly says he knows just the man for the job. She tells him to be extra careful and he promises her he will be. She says that he may even have a date waiting for him if he makes it out alive.
Colt preps Lyle for the job and they dress up like ship-workers. Despite one being an actor and the other a stuntman, Lyle suffers through having to serve people while Colt is an expert at playing the part. A couple of young teenagers are very cold to Lyle, which really pisses him off as that’s usually his key demographic. Rosa messages Colt that she is ready to contact the authorities on a moment’s notice. They spot Joe (Ed Begley Jr.) and secretly follow him throughout the lavish ship. He finally stops in on the master suite - where they pause their pursuit. It would be too risky to cause a scene in there so they sneak past security and look inside from the windows on an outer deck.
In the suite, it appears that Joe is accomplice in something much bigger than money laundering. In the high-class individuals in that room are arranging their involvement in an underage sex ring involving the girls seen earlier. The final entrant apologizes for showing up late, he was just finishing up below deck. Colt is shocked to find that it is none other than Don Santo. Not only that, but it becomes clear that Santo is the one renting this boat and orchestrating the whole thing.
Colt has lost signal (and thus contacts with Rosa) and says they should abort this mission and reassess how to approach it when back on land. Lyle, ready to get things done, is much more reticent to take action. Suddenly, they are spotted by guards who ask why they are looking in the windows. Colt starts to make up an excuse before Lyle throws a punch at one of the guards and a brawl ensues. As this continues, Lyle says that he spotted some jet skis down below and they finish the guards and escape on those. Lyle says that was his plan all along but Colt is skeptical. They outrace the guards on motor skies, who turn around once they realize they can’t catch the duo.
Upon reconvening with Rosa and Vaughn, Colt tells them about the mission. He shows them a picture of his partner, Lyle. They say they obviously know who he is, he’s in all the movies these days. He rolls his eyes and says that he was too reckless for this job. He acted like an action star without being able to do the real action. Colt tells them all the details about the sex ring and that he is good friends with Santo. Vaughn says they will forward this info to the authorities and it will move out of their hands.
In private, Colt is angry about this as he is distrusts bureaucracies and thinks Santo and the other rich criminals will get away. On set, Colt and Santo have a conversation where he tries to know more about Santo’s personal life. Over the course of it, he starts to figure out that Santo might have had security footage on the boat that exposes Colt. They both leave the conversation without touching on the subject directly. Santo invites Colt over to his mansion for dinner, and since Colt isn’t letting on, he agrees.
While performing stunts for the film, his brakes give out and the stunt car nearly crashes. Luckily he is a seasoned driver and able to bring it to a safe stop. He checks the car afterwards and is puzzled by its dysfunction.
Colt arrives at Santo’s apartment with Rosa in his ear. Santo is preparing wild boar meat for dinner. Colt takes a look at all of the movie memorabilia lining Santo’s walls, reminding him of better times. When they have dinner, they both keep up the charade and have a lengthy conversation, reflecting on their career together. Santo is the one to get the ball rolling and says that he knows that Colt was on the yacht that night. Rosa tells Colt to stay safe and be smart, in his ear. Colt offers to talk this out but a dozen security guards enter the room and Santo says that talking isn’t going to help. Colt lies and tells him that the police are already on their way with a warrant. This goes in one ear and out the other.
Colt stands up ready to fight and the guards get ready to swarm him. However, Santo calls them off. He says that he’s ready to do his own stunts and faces off against his old friend. This initially a fist fight on the dinner table, with Santo grabbing the meat fork and stabs it into Colt’s shoulder. This spills out into the lavish mansion, where Colt (with the fork still in his back) gains the upper hand in straight combat - no tricks needed. He starts to beat Santo to a bloody pulp when Santo throws his hands up and says that he gives up. Colt’s cocked fist freezes in the air upon Santo’s surrender. That is, until Santo makes a signal with his hands and says “Boys.” The guards come in to attack.
Colt does his best to fight them off. He pulls the fork out of his back and uses it to fend some of them off. He uses this distraction to climb up the stair railing and leaping off of it - grabbing the ballroom’s massive chandelier in mid-air and bringing it down on top of the men. He then starts to beat them one-on-one as they recover. He is able to slide out of the room and to the front door, where he makes a quick exit to his truck. Santo, still badly bruised gets in his sports car to follow.
However, Colt can’t make it far into the road before starting to fade from the stab wound. He eventually starts to pass out and his truck slowly crashes into the nearby woods. Santo parks his car behind and approaches. He opens the door to find a pool of blood gathering on the driver’s seat. He grabs the pistol sitting in the passenger’s seat, says “sorry, buddy”, and looks away while firing a shot to finish off his buddy.
A montage of people learning about Colt’s death.
Lyle, Sondra, Jalen, Vaughn, Rosa, and many more attend Colt’s funeral. Lyle is alerted when Santo arrives to grieve for his old friend. Knowing what he knows, he tracks Santo throughout the funeral service and starts thinking about how he should approach this. When the cars start lining up for the funeral procession, Lyle goes undercover as Santo’s driver in the last car in line. At first they make small talk but Santo begins to get annoyed by Lyle’s annoyingness. Finally, Lyle reveals who he is and that he knows what Santo did. Santo laughs it off at first but realizes that Lyle is being serious.
Santo lunges at Lyle and they begin to fight as Lyle tries to keep the car in line and not be suspicious. Santo gains the upper hand and goes to kick Lyle out of the driver’s-side door but Lyle opens the door preemptively and hangs out - sending Santo out flying. Lyle looks at Santo in the rearview mirror, adjusts his bowtie and smiles.
Meanwhile, Santo gets back up and shoots the cop who is at the nearby traffic stop to block traffic for the funeral. He steals the cop’s motorcycle and speeds up to pass Lyle by. He weaves in and out of the procession itself before finally reaching the hearse at the front. Santo leaps from the motorcycle to the side of the hearse. He punches through the driver’s side window and pulls the driver out, taking over himself. Lyle sees this and speeds up to catch him.
However, a trailing officer sees Lyle’s car break the procession and attempts to pull him over. He has a decision to make and so he decides it is full steam ahead. He drives the car up on the sidewalk and pushes it as fast it can go. When he reaches the speeding hearse, Santo tries to shoot at him but misses. Lyle executes the PIT maneuver on the hearse, to the shock and horror of all of the cars behind it. The cop catches up to the accident and demands that Lyle leave his vehicle. Lyle finally accepts the officer’s demands and puts his hands up while Santo laughs and starts to pull off.
Santo lets his hair down and lets it wave in the wind. All of a sudden, the casket in the back props open and Colt pops out of it. Santo is shocked while Colt tells him that gun that he shot him with was a movie prop - meaning it was loaded with blanks. Santo is now nervous and sees a bridge approaching. He swerves toward the river while abandoning the vehicle, himself. The hearse plunges into the river with Colt in the back. Lyle arrives with the police officer and they catch Santo before he can run away.
Upon seeing the hearse sinking into the river, Lyle feels it is his duty to Sondra and to his frenemy to retrieve Colt’s body - unaware that he faked his death. He dives in and reaches the hearse but finds it empty. When he gets back to the surface, he finds a drenched Colt smiling on the shore, waving to him.
Days later, Sondra hosts a family barbecue with Colt included. Lyle watches on the news as it talks about the high profile people arrested in the sex ring. Colt comes up and talks about what a wild week it has been. He explains to Lyle everything that went down: the prop gun, Rosa tracking down his location, and planning with Vaughn the fake funeral to lure Santo in and get him. All Lyle can do is smile in disbelief. He tells Lyle that he was impressed by Lyle’s work at the funeral. Maybe actors can do their own stunts after all? Lyle laughs and says, who knows, maybe Colt should try out acting some time.
Colt goes to get his phone and realizes he missed a phone call from Rosa. He tells Lyle he might have to head out earlier and points to the phone. Sondra overhears this and gives him a “really?” look. Colt listens to the voicemail and finds that it is not a new mission, just Rosa following up on the date she had promised him. He texts her and they set up a time for later that night. Colt says nevermind, he’ll be able to stick around for the whole party this time and goes to play football with Jalen in the backyard.
In a mid-credits scene, we see Colt taking up on Lyle’s advice and auditioning for a role in a commercial. Colt’s acting skills...not great.
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