As the summer season is starting to wane, we are seeing less big budget movies and more smaller, independent films. We've seen many espionage, action films, even some with a comedic slant, but what makes this stand out from the rest is that this about a hit man that needs protection from a bodyguard. Where we expect hitmen being ruthless, gun-toting mercenaries, "The Hitman's Bodyguard" shows us the vulnerability between these two individuals.
The world's top protection agent, Michael Bryce (Ryan Reynolds) is called upon by Interpol to guard the life of this mortal enemy, one of the world's most notorious hitmen (Samuel L. Jackson). The relentless bodyguard and manipulative assassin have been on the opposite end of the bullet for years and are thrown together for a wildly outrageous 24 hours. During their raucous and hilarious adventure from England to the Hague, they encounter high-speed car chases, outlandish boat escapades and a merciless Eastern European dictator Vladislav Dukhovich (Gary Oldman) who is out for blood. Salma Hayek joins the mayhem as Jackson's equally notorious wife, Sonia. These two professionals must put their differences aside and work together, within a 24 hour window, to make it to the trial on time.
Others to round out the cast are Elodie Yung as Amelia Roussel, Richard E. Grant as Seifert, Tine Joustra as Renata Casoria, Joaquim de Almeida as Jean Foucher, Sam Hazeldine as Garrett, Chris Brazier as Garrett's Officer, Renars Latkovskis as Dukhovich Merc, Ori Pfeffer as Vacklin and Michael Gor as Livitin.
This was slickly and intensely directed by Patrick Hughes ("Red Hill" '10, "The Expendables 3" '14) plus shorts. This filmmaker doesn't have a ton of feature film experience, however, by his very resume, this genre is familiar territory. He certainly knows how to bring all the emotions needed to round out these characters--anger, hatred, cunningness, and fear out of his actors. Although Jackson and Reynolds are consummate actors, especially in this genre, this still takes effective directing to pull this off. It was effectively executed by writer Tom O'Connor ("Fire with Fire" '12). Because this writer doesn't have much experience, this script needed a bit more polish, especially with continuity. When the actors were explaining their respective situations of the past, the storyline didn't quite flow as well as I'm sure O'Connor was striving for. Certainly as new as this writer is to the feature film realm, he will definitely go far, because I've seen some seasoned writers who haven't written this well. The premise of this film is intriguing, and Hollywood would have been more prudent to hire a more seasoned writer as well director, but then where would these filmmakers hone their talents? We all must start somewhere. Certainly, the stunts by Greg Powell are captivating and extreme and look great on the large screen.
The best thing about this film is the chemistry between Jackson and Reynolds, because their banter alone is worth the price of admission. Given more experience, O'Connor will make a dynamite writer, especially with this genre. This is certainly an entertaining film replete with the wisecracks and action galore.
Out of 4 Stars: 3 Rated: R 118mins.
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