Now is Free Guy better and more interesting visually and comedically than a large swath of the blockbusters’ we view nowadays? Yes. The immense charisma and star power of Ryan Reynolds has shone through once again, giving us a surprisingly shocking Truman Show homage with a very singular and intriguing concept at the heart of it. Reynolds certainly knows how to pick his projects and there is many a kernel of a great idea within this film. However overall Free Guy really does fall prey to an overabundance of plotlines that go nowhere, a dependence on cliché and undeveloped romances, all servicing a very sub-par and un-original third act. Free Guy ends up slap bang in the middle of the road, I’m afraid.
Overall Free Guy would be nothing without Reynolds. Once again he has shepherded a project that is ideal for his biggest strengths and crafted a team around it that does justice to material that perhaps was not the best in the world. In this case the script of Matt Lieberman and Zak Penn does revel in some intriguing concepts, however overall the film does feel as if it has been trimmed from an earlier perhaps more r-rated affair, to such an extent that when the film’s one allowed f-bomb was dropped it felt horribly forced and un-natural. The script too features far too many moments of completly ridiculing its core base, to just no avail. Certain switcheroo jokes do pay off very nicely, but overall in the case of Jodie Comer’s character, one does feel that the writers were trying to make this fairly one-dimensional female figure a little more complex, only to in actuality force her to deliver some of the most painfully cringey lines in the whole film. These attempts at wry social commentary and justice all fell flat for me and left me rather cold. The times when the films humour works best is certainly when it as at its most sincere, particularly in the hands of Reynolds and Lil Rel Howery, the vein these two play into is a delightful mix of genuine emotion and fish out of water charm that blends very well and as aforementioned gives the film some of its most lovely and funniest moments. However without a shadow of a doubt the films weakest link is Taika Waititi, a man who I genuinely adore in performance, direction and writing, but however here is wholly insufferable. And yes, I know the difference between an annoying character and a character who is annoying and this is certainly the prior. Not a single one of Waiti’s characterisms or bizarre lines and deliveries landed in my theatre and got in actuality an array of groans from myself. A very terrible turn in an otherwise mediocre film.
Shawn Levy, director of the Night at the Museum movies directs the film in actuality with a refreshing focus on interesting visuals, of course the film does ultimately descend in its third act and frequently inhabit the world of over-the-top and painfully over-used CGI, however in the final act at least it is peppered with humour (as most of the film is). Levy actually spends a lot of interesting time in the first half of the movie developing the background of a frame, repeatedly having minor jokes that could be missed. Sure, these eventually give way to painful cameos and uses of Disney IP, however there is a simplicity to the earliest parts of the film that does work well. Eventually we come to find that above all the film is a love story, however this romance is under-developed and forced to such an extent that even my heart didn’t budge for a beat. Comer and Keery do deliver in some moments, but Keery doesn’t seem to want to be there for long stretches and actually was a little dull in his performance. Comer does a lot of heavy-lifting when she’s not bouncing off Reynolds, and is probably in so many ways due to this the MVP of the film.
A repeatedly interesting but frequently clichéd 5/10, that although on occasion finds genuine laughs and intriguing subversions within itself, a slew of painfully un-interesting beats and overlong sequences cannot be helped by the stirring charisma of its leads. Reynolds, Comer and Lil Rel do sterling work, with Keery being alright on the sidelines as an exposition un-loader. But certain performances and certain elements do drag this film down for me with its un-focussed eye on tone, balance and an overall comedic through line.
P.S. RIP Alex Trebek, you incredible, glorious man – just seeing and hearing your voice and manner gave me the biggest smile in the entire film.
P.P.S Listen to Genius of Love by The Tom-Tom Club, it’s far better and was first. Sorry Mariah.
- - Thomas Carruthers
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