Let me just get this off my chest (pause) from the jump…You have to see the film Free Guy. Hats off to the scribes, Matt Lieberman and Zak Penn, that scribbled the multi-dimensional script for the Disney/20th Century Studios pic. Directed by Shawn Levy (Stranger Things), Free Guy follows happy-go-lucky, blue shirt wearing bank teller Guy (Ryan Reynolds) who is unknowingly an ornament in a popular computer game until one day his mundane life is changed by a chance meeting with the woman of his dreams.
The cast includes Jodie Comer (Killing Eve) as Millie, Lil Rel Howery (Space Jam: A New Legacy) as Buddy, Joe Keery (Stranger Things) as Keys, Taika Waititi (The Suicide Squad) as Antoine, and Utkarsh Ambudkar (Blindspotting) as Mouser.
As their virtual world turns, Guy and Buddy stick to a daily routine that consists of waking up, getting a coffee, going to work, and doing it all over again. Meanwhile, characters played by the “real world’s” gamers wreck havoc on the virtual society in a game of leveling up by amassing the most points via crime sprees. Antoine, a real-life villain and the video game’s creator, is desperately trying to conceal an industry shaking secret to his success and is willing to do whatever it takes to accomplish that.
Accompanied by the hit Mariah Carey record “Fantasy’ and an ongoing appeal for good coffee made like a special product placement campaign, Free Guy is the meeting of three great films, 2018’s Ready Player One, which was also penned by Zak Penn (pun intended), 1998’s The Truman Show starring Jim Carrey, and 1993’s Groundhog Day, starring Bill Murray, merged with modern day influences of the gamer and tech industries. Reynolds and Comer’s onscreen chemistry is the perfect coding for this visually gratifying program of entertainment.
The pic’s take on heroes serves as a life hack on what to do when the world around you seems like a chaotic windfall. As Guy learns to embrace his desire to want more out of life, he transforms from an ordinary guy to something he could only dream of being. This evolution didn’t fall into his lap, however. Before he leveled up, he had to take a risk. At first sight, his step out on faith was a scary experience. He even failed a few times as he navigated the dangerous territory of going against the grain.
Guy’s journey can easily be translated to life, in general. Free Guy holds up a mirror to society and reflects back not only the issues that we can’t seem to transcend, but the film goes the extra mile to offer some solutions — although very subliminally — to gun violence, police brutality, intellectual property theft, and even finding one’s purpose.
Bottomline, the answer is self-love. If we can find the courage in our hearts to love ourselves, not in the sense of being vain and full of ourselves, then it sets a precedent to love others, as well. If we, as humans, are happy with ourselves, there’s no need to kill people because of their “skin” or harm others to “level up” — you will understand this more when you watch the film.
Since we’re all playing the game of life, why not be the star of your own movie. How does that look? It’s going after that position you wanted, speaking to the woman or man of your dreams, being your best self, facing your fears and trying new things, because “life is too short to be a background character,” indeed.
Free Guy changes your life on August 13 at the nearest movie theater.
