Free Guy (2021)

Free Guy is The Truman Show wearing a gaming headset, and it never decides whether it’s mocking the big studio machine or applying for a job there. Ryan Reynolds does the Ryan Reynolds thing: cheerful, fast, and so relentlessly upbeat that by the third bank robbery it’s like getting hugged by a mascot. Jodie Comer is the actual find, flipping between a frustrated coder and a game hero with more feeling than the script gives her. Taika Waititi plays the villain studio boss by yelling at different volumes, which is funny twice. The gaming jokes feel written by someone who has watched a lot of other people play games. It made $331.5 million worldwide, so the formula clearly works on paper. A 6.2 because it’s a pleasant 115 minutes that evaporates the moment the credits roll. $531 says you wave at a stranger like a background character this week and they wave back, confused.

What works: Jodie Comer carries the heart of it, and an NPC waking up to his own life is a fun hook for a summer comedy.

What doesn’t: Taika Waititi’s villain is all volume and no menace, and the jokes run out well before the movie does.

Who it’s for: Families with a gamer kid, and anyone who has felt like an extra in their own workplace.