‘Don’t have a good day, have a great day...’
I’ve always loved Ryan Reynolds. Going right back to his days chopping wood in Amityville Horror with his shirt off. Halcyon days. It’s been heartening then to watch his rise from loveable everyman to global superstar. It’s especially pleasing that this hasn’t come at a cost in terms of his output. Reynolds has developed a knack of picking successful roles that he perhaps didn’t have earlier in his career. The latest slam dunk is Free Guy, and it’s vintage Reynolds…
Guy (Reynolds) is content with life. He has the same coffee from the same vendor and then goes to work a shift in the same old bank where, invariably, he sits through the same old bank robbery. Hmm. That last bit feels odd. That’s probably because, unbeknown to him, he is an NPC (Non-Playable Character) in an open world video game. Due to the intervention of Millie (Jodie Comer), very much a real person with an axe to grind with the makers of the game, Reynolds gradually realises his diminished role within the world he calls home. Joe Keery, Taika Waititi and Lil Rel Howery round off a starry cast.
So, here is a film that wears its influences on its sleeve. The Truman Show. Groundhog Day. Ready Player One. When those influences are so accomplished however, it’s kind of ok to crib from them so liberally. Reynolds has a ball as the titular free guy (an expression that apparently means extra life in the gaming community – hello, fellow kids!) and Comer matches him every step of the way in a breakthrough role that is thoroughly deserved after all her excellent work in various TV projects. It is a testament to her talents that she seems so at home here despite being surrounded by bona fide movie stars, and it would appear that the sky really is the limit for the girl from Liverpool.
The mouse in the room of course is that this is very much a Disney production. Whilst an original story scoring so highly at the box office should be commended, this is still a Mouse House production, meaning there are cameos from a few familiar faces along the way. It’s certainly not beyond the realms of imagination that we might see Guy popping up in the MCU sometime soon.
That doesn’t have to diminish what director Shawn Levy has achieved here, however. Free Guy is high octane fun for the whole family in an era in which the concept of the non-franchised summer blockbuster feels more distant than ever.
A satisfying throwback with one foot in the future.