Actor Ryan Reynolds has been a part of many successful films, from the classicVan Wilderto the genre-breakingDeadpoolfranchise. Yet, the actor has declared that his upcoming movieFree Guyis his best film to date. In an interview with the movie’s director Shawn Levy, Reynolds explained whyFree Guyis a standout project for him.
“I do think it’s thebest movie making experiencethat I’ve ever had, easily, but also the best movie I’ve ever done. It’s the most pertinent to our times, in that sense. Where I feel Deadpool was a movie that was pertinent to the comic book culture when it came out, this really to me speaks in a broader spectrum of where we are in the world and how we are in the world.”
Thefirst Free Guy trailerset the film up as a classic wacky comedy based on a simple premise. An NPC(Non-playable character) in aGTA-style open-world video game, played byRyan Reynolds, achieves sentience one day, and inadvertently goes from being a non-descript background character to the main hero of the game, tumbling into one action-packed situation after another that he deals with using Reynold’s excellent sense of comic timing.
Free Guy trailer #2, which was released a few days ago, reveals a new side to the story. After initially using his powers to wreak havoc in the game like any other new gamer, Reynold’s character begins to behave responsibly, using his new abilities to clean up his imaginary city. Soon, real-life gamers begin to be inspired by Reynold’s example to question their in-game behavior, while the creator of the game, played by Taika Waititi, plots to get things back to the way they were before.
Thus, it seemsFree Guyis less an out-and-out comedy and more of a comedic meditation on the effects of video game violence on a younger generation, and how that same energy can instead be redirected towards more meaningful channels. Levy believes the example set by Reynolds' character is one that the whole world can learn from in today’s time.
“In 2020, we really relate to the idea that, ‘Oh, wait, maybe the world doesn’t need to remain as you find it. Maybe you can have an impact on circumstances around you.'”
WhileFree Guyis officially set to debut this year in theaters, the movie will almost certainly be postponed just like every other big-budget movie has been lately. Or the film could be released on VOD for an audience starved of any few Hollywood fare this year. In any case, Reynolds and the rest of the movie’s cast and crew appear confident that they have created a feature that will be an entertaining and thoughtful offering once audiences are finally able to it.
Directed by Shawn Levy,Free Guyfeatures a lead cast of Ryan Reynolds, Jodie Comer, Joe Keery, Lil Rel Howery, Utkarsh Ambudkar, and Taika Waititi. The film arrives in theaters on December 11. This news comes fromKVUE.
