We Should All Feel Free to Watch "Free Guy"

Hi team,

I really wanted to write a post this weekend, so given that I've waited until 11:52 pm to start, I'll have to make it quick.  Which is good, and resolutions consistent!

Let's talk about "Free Guy" (2021)!

I had overall low expectations of this movie, accompanied by fragile hopes that it would be genuinely enjoyable and sincere fears that it would be a boring action-fest.  

To cut right to the chase: I loved it!  

In tone and story, "Free Guy" is essentially a live action version of "The Lego Movie" (2014), which of course contributed significantly to my grateful enjoyment.  I am pretty much constantly on the verge of just rewatching "Lego Movie" lately as I am definitely still in a comfort-watching-my-favorite-reruns-as-coping frame of mind, so having another version of that movie means I have a welcome resource to possibly return to at some later date.

To run down the major highlights:

--Ryan Reynolds is great.  His humor is imbued with self-deprecating charm, and he delivers a Jim Carrey in "Truman Show" (1998)-esque plucky yet doe-eyed performance that makes his titular Guy super endearing.

--Absolutely delightful, silly, inventive humor with plenty of laugh-out-loud moments.

--Lil Rel Howery delivers a little homage his save-the-day "Get Out" (2017) moment!

--CHANNING TATUM CAMEO.  You know I love that!!  He is such a goddamn delight.

--Far from being boring, because of the integration of video game-y laws of physics, the action sequences have a fun, cartoony energy that also help reveal the rules of this particular virtual world.

--To that point: As with "Lego Movie", I really enjoyed the world-building of the in-game Free City in "Free Guy".  Something about being introduced to the rules of the road in a low-stakes fantasy environment makes my combined creative and checkbox-checking brains very happy.

In conclusion, "Free Guy" is exactly the sweet, fun, high tech escapist carnival ride I needed and wanted it to be.  With all that and more delivered in this freaking delight of a movie, it is perhaps unsurprising that I gave it a 5.

{Heart}