Free Guy Parent Guide

Guy (Ryan Reynolds) lives a life of unvarying predictability. Every morning, he wakes up, says good morning to his goldfish, grabs a coffee, and heads to work at the bank, where he is robbed at gunpoint repeatedly until his shift ends. Then he goes home, gets some sleep, and does it all again. Until, that is, he is dazzled by Millie (Jodie Comer). Guy realizes that his chances are slim - she’s one of the “sunglasses people” – the kind of people who run around with tanks, shoot up the streets, rob the bank where he works. But when he gets his hands on some of those sunglasses, Guy sees his world in a whole new light. He lives in a city of quests, objectives, loot, and characters – a video game. And he’s just another non-player character, going about his business as the real players tear up the town. With Millie’s help, though, they might just be able to change something…

I like video games, as I’m sure most of you do. I also tend to hate movies about video games. They have an awful habit of latching on to the loosest visual cliches and then making pop culture references for two hours instead of having a plot – I’m looking at you, Ready Player One. Or Ralph Breaks the Internet, which is less a film and more two hours of uninterrupted product placement for Disney’s intellectual property. Agonizing.

I’d be lying to you if I told you that Free Guy doesn’t do some of both – settle for lazy pop culture references and flog existing entertainment franchises. The difference is that, unlike the other films, Free Guy has Ryan Reynolds. And while Reynolds’ fast-paced comic stylings are typically associated with raunchier adult comedy (Deadpool, anyone?) he’s managed to tone it down a few notches for the kids. The other difference is that someone in corporate Disney accidentally let this movie escape production with some heart. Not a lot, but enough. Or maybe that’s just my teary nostalgia at the cameo by the late, great Alex Trebek.

Although Reynolds has dialed down the profanity and sexual innuendo, Free Guy is still pretty well placed at a PG-13. There’s a fair bit of scatological cussing floating around like debris in a public pool, and some remarkably crude sexual references which were more than enough to catch me off guard, and which make this a less suitable choice for younger viewers.

Although the story starts slow, it gets better, smarter, and funnier as it goes on – enough to make it sophomoric instead of infantile. Maybe you’ll enjoy the cameos from video game streamers, maybe you’ll laugh at the goofy slapstick, or maybe you’ll just have fun watching Ryan Reynolds try not to swear. But there is more to enjoy here than I would have anticipated, and I’m sure you can find something to like too.