Calling it now, The Fall Guy is Barbenheimer’s love child, and Ryan Gosling’s SNL monologue proves it. Accompanied by his co-star, the indomitable Emily Blunt, Gosling gives viewers a whole new version of Taylor Swift’s “All Too Well” to obsess over.
Barbenheimer is becoming a you had to be there moment, and truly, thank heavens we were—watching all this gloriously perfect chaos unfold in front of our screens in a way that honors all three of the films with the kind of opening that genuinely feels refreshing, hilarious, and weirdly emotional. If there’s one thing that’s been evident from day one, it’s that both the Oppenheimer and Barbie cast had an absolute blast filming their respective movies. To later create such an enduring phenomenon that pushed people to watch films that they might not have otherwise done so makes the summer of 2023 a hard one to leave behind.
Cleary, Ryan Gosling is also in this boat, and so is Emily Blunt. “All Too Well” (Ken’s Version) [Ryan Gosling’s SNL Monologue Version] is a sight to behold, packed with an ensemble featuring Barbies in pink and “dudes in hats.” Blunt’s begrudging performance leading to an emotionally charged one matches the version of the character we get in the trailer, making this the kind of opening that effortlessly combines two—nay, three films that shouldn’t even be aligned.
Yet, it’s ultimately what made Barbenheimer such a phenomenon. There was no explanation other than its release date, which combined a polarity of themes, making people turn into something more significant because maybe we’re all a little sad and want to hold onto things for as long as possible. (Or, maybe, like Gosling, we need to let go of things. We need someone to knock us over and then eventually join us on the floor.)
The rapport between Gosling and Blunt makes the SNL opening one to remember, if for nothing else than for the fact that the two of them are more than enough as actors to make anyone want to watch whatever it is they’re advertising to us. “Look here, you’re Kenning right now, and I hate that’s even a verb. I resent that. Take the fur coat off. You’re embarrassing yourself.” The beauty of SNL monologue openings is that they allow so much room to play that it works in a way that it would never operate as tremendously elsewhere. That much is true for all openers, but goodness, I’m biased to say it’s my favorite here.
If I weren’t already itching to watch The Fall Guy, I’d be running to buy my ticket after this moment alone. But alas, maybe it’s going to convince a few more people, and we can all run to the theater, ready to fall in love with the Barbenheimer child.
In a nutshell, Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt’s SNL monologue is genuinely hilarious. It’s clever. It touches on the past and the present in such a way that’s evocative without being even a little offensive. It pushes boundaries, and it opens up room to have fun while ultimately allowing people to just have a blast. We maybe need to embrace this chaos. We need to embrace trying a little too hard sometimes because the end result can feel ridiculously effortless.
Watch the performance below and come scream with us about its perfection in the comments.
First Featured Image Credit: ©NBC