Gamer, Free Will and Freedom of Action

In the movie "Gamer," the main character Kable (Gerard Butler) is completely controlled by a teenager named Simon (Logan Lerman) thanks to a new nanotechnology. The movie pits death-row inmates against each other in "real life" video games (i.e. people like Simon pay to control their living human character in a COD-like environment. Players shoot and compete to be the last man standing; however, only the controllers have any influence in the battle. Their characters, the inmates, can observe the things around them but are unable to take any action of their own.

This sort of control has implications on freedom. The inmates don't have the freedom to move their hands by their own volition, for example. But what would we label this as? Is it an invasion of their free will, or is merely an absence of freedom of action? Losing freedom of action can be likened to putting handcuffs on someone; they can still "will" to move their hands, but nothing will happen. Free will is more metaphysical; it deals with the volitions themselves, and the degree of choice and control pertaining to one's inner workings. A "hard determinist" might call an escaped prisoner devoid of free will, but perfectly capable of exercising freedom of action. A "libertarian" might say that a prisoner with his hands tied is entitled to free will (in that you can "will" to do otherwise), but not freedom of action (not that free will does much good if you can't actualize your volitions).

Which one is more important? Both seem necessary. I don't think that anyone would prize freedom of the will if it couldn't affect the physical world (i.e. you're tied up the whole time).

And which one does Kable lack? He can still make his own choices; in one scene, he desperately tries to turn around when he spots an enemy that Simon didn't notice (check out the trailer). I'd say that he merely lacks freedom of action, but it's far more disturbing than merely being in a prison cell. Someone else is actually controlling your body, even if your mind is being left alone. That brings up the question of what separates the "volitions" that the controller forces your body to make from your own internal mental processes. After all, the nanotechnology is implanted in the mind. So how much of Kable does Simon really control?

Anyways, I feel like all these posts on free will have been butchered. Feel free to critique or leave your impressions on the subject.