Reynolds’ ‘Free Guy’ is part ‘Tron,’ part ‘Ted Lasso’
“Free Guy” is a big, warm hug of a movie with plenty to love, even if you’re not super into bubble gum ice cream, swing sets and vintage Mariah Carey like Ryan Reynolds’ goodhearted title character.
Director Shawn Levy’s enjoyable action comedy (in theaters Friday) introduces a colorful, whiz-bang video game world where supporting players have to discover their own agency, none more so than Reynolds’ cheery Guy. He finds romance and learns to be a hero in a feelgood film that balances originality with a fair share of pop-culture familiarity, gives “Killing Eve” breakout Jodie Comer two very different roles to play, and lets Taika Waititi be as loony as he wants to be. (Which is, thankfully, a lot.)
Guy lives in a video game called Free City, an explosive, crazy “Grand Theft Auto”-esque landscape where gamers rob stores, blow stuff up and cause oodles of mayhem as their sunglassesclad avatars. A tertiary non-playable character in this digital extravaganza, Guy has his daily coffee with best friend Buddy (Lil Rel Howery), dreams of buying cool sneakers and goes to work as a bank teller, aware of the constant surrounding chaos but blissfully unbothered by it all.
When he sees the leather-clad, ubercool British biker Molotov Girl (Comer), Guy begins to break from his monotony to chat her up. What he doesn’t know is Molotov Girl is the online persona of Millie, a video game designer in the real world seeking a video clip somewhere in Free City that will help prove that shady software mogul Antwan (Waititi) has stolen her work. She tries to get her old partner Keys (Joe Keery) to help her, but he now works for Antwan, who’s gearing up to unveil “Free City 2” and doesn’t want anybody or anything getting in the way.
But no one’s quite prepared for – you guessed it – a free Guy. During one of many gamer-steered robberies that he usually just lets happen, he instead fights back, puts on a pair of dropped sunglasses and sees for the first time medical kits, power-ups and other helpful gamer items. Molotov Girl tells him that he needs to rack up experience points, which he does, not by stealing stuff but by being a do-gooder who helps instead of hurts people. In the real world, his exploits as “Blue Shirt Guy” make him a phenomenon – and irritate Antwan – and Guy has his world rocked when he starts to learn the truth about his situation.
Although Reynolds is beloved as the crass antihero Deadpool, he plays Guy like “Tron” crossed with “Ted Lasso,” armed with an infectious exuberance that’s hard not to like.
Reynolds also gets to play a roidedout, dimwitted surfer version of Guy named Dude who’s an absolute hoot.
Comer is a delight navigating a whole romantic-comedy subplot with Guy, Howery adds a thoughtful layer to the usual buddy-comedy shenanigans, while Waititi rules playing a greedy, obnoxious dude trying way too hard to be cool.
The real world of “Free Guy” is just never quite as fun as the colorful environment of Free City, which is filled with eye-popping visuals but also A-list cameos and clever references. What’s really striking, however, is how deep this flick is.
Levy’s film has a lot to say about the power of free will, being your best self and breaking free from a stifling existence, while it also plays against a medium that’s known for violence-loving trolls.
Sure, it might lean a little Pollyanna but if the blond curls fit, wear ’em.
When Guy happily tells people, “Don’t just have a good day, have a GREAT day,” it’s a mantra for life rather than a simple greeting. And right now, we all could use to embrace a bit more “Free,” guys.