Mr. Movie: ‘Free Guy’ hardly worth the cost of admission
“Free Guy” forces a bit of free thinking. Sometimes liking it is hard work. This is not to say it’s a bad movie. It’s not but it’s not a great one either. Maybe that’s judging it bit harshly. There are parts that are quite entertaining and some scenes will have you laughing out loud.
The production values aren’t bad either.
So what’s the problem? Two of them. Ryan Reynolds and the writers owing the concept to 1998’s “The Truman Show” and to the Bill Murray classic,“Ground Hog Day.” Both were completely original concepts.
This one isn’t.
Reynolds plays Guy. He’s a bank teller who wakes up happy and smiling everyday. Guy always wears a blue shirt and buys the same coffee every morning. He lives the same day every day.
And it is okay. In fact, the same day every day is comfortable.
Within his city are wild people wearing sunglasses. Those people never talk to other citizens. They’re armed and violent. During their attacks, in which they use all kinds of weird machines and weapons, they shoot and kill each other and innocent bystanders.
No big deal. It’s normal in Guy’s world.
You see, his world is a video game and Guy is a minor character. When he finally connects with the woman of his dreams — a real life human being — she finally lets him in on the secret. And it’s shocking.
Guy is not a real person and — worse — that the game’s owner wants to do away with the game and forever erase Guy and his friends. That means he and his human friend have to find a way to save his life and his world.
Admittedly, Reynolds doesn’t deliver all of his lines in deadpan fashion like Bill Murray, nor does he overact like Jim Carrey did in his film. Well, Reynolds does, but he doesn’t. Overacting is Reynolds’ thing so that’s no surprise. With a really good script, like the two Deadpool movies, Reynolds’ smart aleck schtick is better than almost anybody — ever. What he doesn’t get with “Free Guy” is a great script. Give me the Reynolds of Deadpool.
That guy rocks and he’s really funny.
In places the story by Matt Lieberman (“The Christmas Chronicles”) and screenplay by Zac Penn (“Ready Player One,” several Marvel movies and “The Last Action Hero”) hits some nice sweet spots. One place is the romance between Guy and Molotov Girl. They have excellent chemistry and get to share some very nice, almost touching, scenes.
Primetime Emmy winner, Jodie Comer (“Killing Eve”) is cast as Molotov Girl.
Her real life pal is done by “Stranger Things” actor, Joe Keery. She and he invented the game and put an algorhythm in it that allows some characters to take on personalities that weren’t programmed into the game.
Or to put it a different way, the character becomes a life form conscious of actually being alive. That’s what happens to Guy who gains worldwide fame as he steps in and begins to defeat the sunglassed villains.
BTW, there are two great cameos in the movie. One is done by Channing Tatum and the second is the late Alex Trebek who does a fun Jeopardy scene. It was good to see him again.
The movie’s villain is played by Taika Waititi who wrote, directed and acted in the very good “Jojo Rabbit.” He — like the rest of the cast — has a lot of fun with his part, and manages to make the lack of script content and dialogue, work.
This leads to my biggest complaint and “Free Guy’s” biggest problem. There are some places in this movie where a twist or two would make the movie feel somewhat original. Instead, Liberman and Penn chicken out. Making it a little darker like “The Truman Show” would have helped Reynolds and his co-stars.
Too much light forces director, Shawn Levy (the “Night at the Museum” series of films) to pack the movie with special effects. In places they’re very good but they’re not all that original.
As a result, they often get in the way.
Reynolds’ name is box office magic. This movie will likely pack theaters all weekend and will, at least, return the investment the producers put into the movie.
That leads us back to free thinking. Will it return your box office ticket investment? While I like “Free Guy” enough to recommend, many of you — like me — may wish “Free Guy” was a free movie.
Rated PG-13 for some F-bomb language, mature themes and violence. It’s playing at the AMC Classic Kennewick 12 and the Fairchild Cinemas Pasco, Southgate 10 and Queensgate 12.
Rating: 3 out of 5
This story was originally published August 13, 2021 at 12:00 PM with the headline "Mr. Movie: ‘Free Guy’ hardly worth the cost of admission."