I like Ryan Reynolds. He seems like a nice guy. His movies make me laugh. And at the same time he’s done a great job in action and dramatic roles. So when I hear he has a new movie coming out he’s one of those actors that makes me want to be there. Such was the case when FREE GUY came out. Now that it’s on disc I know I’ll be adding it to my collection. It was that great.
Reynolds stars as a bank teller named Guy. His name tag says so. Every day he does the same thing, follows the same pattern. He wakes, feeds his goldfish, gets ready, goes to work, grabs a cup of coffee (the same kind every day) and meets up with his best friend security guard Buddy (Lil Rel Howery). The same thing happens to them on their trek to work and once there the same robbery happens over and over again? Is this a remake of GROUNDHOG DAY?
Not at all. You see Guy and Buddy are incidental characters in a worldwide video game called “Free City”. They are nothing more than computer programs, programmed to do the same thing over and over again, ignorant of the rampant violence taking place around them as players shoot, rob, kill and do more to other various incidental characters. But then something happens.
One day while walking his usual walk, Guy sees someone. This is Molotov Girl and Guy is smitten. Enough so that he suddenly begins deviating from his program. No one notices at first but he eventually develops the nerve to actually speak to Molotov Girl. She’s surprised to see this happen. That’s because in reality she is Millie Rusk (Jodie Comer).
Millie was a programmer who helped create “Free City” with her partner. Then it was bought up by Antwan Hovachelik (Taika Waititi) who capitalized on the game and made a fortune. Enough so that he hired her partner and stopped the project near and dear to their hearts, creating a free thinking artificial intelligence in the game. Could it be that bits of their code exist and are now a part of Guy?
Millie/Molotov Girl thinks Guy is just a novice player with no points to his name, no power ups. So she advises him to level up and do so. She provides him with a pair of glasses that allow him to see what is taking place all around him among the players who have bought into the game. In an effort to please her and win her favor Guy begins to do heroic deeds, gaining points and upping his level.
This begins to attract the attention of the players around the world. To them he is just another player with a secret identity. They have no clue who and what he really is. When Millie begins to see who he is she realizes he can help her gain access to where her original code has been hidden from her. But of course Antwan is not going to take this lying down and he sends in his IT team to track them down, including the former partner of Millie, Walter “Keys” McKey (Joe Keery). Can Millie and Guy find what she’s after before they are stopped?
This movie has me laughing from start to finish. On one level there is the up-front items taking place, the conversations the unknowing Guy has with people and his friends. The reactions from characters as he starts to change is funny. And all the while there are some hilarious things taking place in the background that are hilarious. I am one of those people who thinks there is an overuse of CGI (computer generated graphics) in films these days. Not so here. Taking place inside a game it has to be done this way and it works.
I can’t think of another actor who could handle the part of Guy the way Reynolds has. His ability to make you think he is innocent and unknowing while at the same time beginning to learn is amazing. Not only that, it plays for laughs the way it should. The rest of the cast is equally up for the challenge and do a fantastic job as well.
If nothing else rent this one and give it a watch. My guess is after you’ll want to buy it. That way you can watch it and laugh again. And you can catch all of the jokes that you missed watching it the first time around. This one definitely belongs in someone’s stocking this year.
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