Review of Free Guy (2021) by Markhreviews — 08 Sep 2021

Recently, creative teams apparently have found it irresistible to explore what it means to be human by writing scripts that insert people into video games. Spielberg’s “Ready Player One” (2018) and the Matthew McConaughey vehicle “Serenity” (2019) are recent examples of this emerging genre. So “Free Guy” has some interesting predecessors.

In this film, Ryan Reynolds’ Guy (see what they did there?!) discovers that he is an NPC, a non-player character in a video game. He’s a totally disposable automated character uninhabited by a person from the real world, mere window dressing when players enter the game to rob banks, shoot people and engage in an endless variety of senseless, violent mayhem. But Guy also houses an advanced form of artificial intelligence. When he meets Millie/Molotov Girl (“Killing Eve” star Jodie Comer), he is immediately infatuated and experiences, wait for it, feelings he’s never had before. Tragically wholesome rom-com moments ensue.

In less capable hands, this story line could have sunk the audience into a sugar-induced coma or devolved into a mind-numbing Ted Talk about “big ideas.” Fortunately, Director Shawn Levy (“Night at the Museum” series, “Cheaper by the Dozen,” “Family Trap”) and his screenwriters are too skillful to let that happen. While addressing important concepts like freedom vs. determinism (sorry, we are now legally compelled to say “personal agency”), the nature of love and the value of friendship, he centers this story on more accessible themes like kindness and generosity. The offhanded violence committed incessantly against the NPCs is a conversation for another day. (“Westworld” anyone?).

The cast here is first-rate. Ryan Reynolds is at his charismatic, self-effacing best because he doesn’t have to rely on superhero costumes crafted by Rubbermaid or gratuitous f-bombs (that’s right, “Deadpool”). Jodie Comer is in excellent form, having apparently perfected a unique combination of wide-eyed wonder and world weariness. Taika Waititi reprises the role of manic, bumbling villain he perfected in “Jojo Rabbit.” The film is crammed with cameos by gamers and streamers (Pokimane, LazerBeam, et al). There’s a welcome Channing Tatum sighting. There’s even a brief scene with Alex Trebek and contestants on “Jeopardy.” There are off-screen voiceovers by Dwayne Johnson, Tina Fey, Hugh Jackman and John Krasinski. But it’s the strength of Reynolds and Comer and the chemistry they build that keep this project from sinking into mediocrity.

Other elements that make this film worthwhile are its brief vignettes and priceless one-liners. One such interchange occurs when Bombshell (Camille Kostek, 2019 SI Swimsuit cover model, real-life girlfriend of football player Rob Gronkowski) enters a bank on the arm of one of the robbers. After Guy dispatches the robbers, he suggests that Bombshell should be free to make her own life choices. Bombshell responds that she may not need a man at all. If only life imitated … A few of the funniest lines: Describing his coffee, Guy says, “It’s like my tongue had a baby with a sunrise.” Later, “Ooh, cappuccino. I enjoy saying that. It’s like a waterfall with letters.” After his first kiss with Millie: “I may not be real, but for a second there, I felt pretty alive.”.

While “Free Guy” is unlikely to make us forget “Citizen Kane” any time soon, it’s better than the standard summer fare, especially in this year’s movie wasteland littered with an overabundance of superheroes and cartoon characters. This film is breezy, funny and occasionally thought-provoking. But most of all, in an increasingly unkind world, it’s a pleasant reminder that thoughtfulness, decency and kindness are their own forms of universal truth. If you can imagine a mash-up of “Ted Lasso” and “Grand Theft Auto,” you have a sense of what this film delivers in full.