An enjoyable end of summer comedy.
The Hitman’s Bodyguard
Grade: B+
Director: Patrick Hills (The Expendables 3)
Screenplay: Tom O’Connor (Fire with Fire)
Cast: Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool), Elodie Yung (The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo)
Rating: R
Runtime: 1 hr. 58 min.
by John DeSando
Too bad we had to wait so long this summer for its best comedy, The Hitman’s Bodyguard. At a low time for good movies, August, here’s a comedy-thriller that’s more fun than thrills. With Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson as Michael and Darius, it’s a variation (see the title) of the usual buddy film, the kind Brett Ratner gave to the late 90’s (think Rush Hour).
It would not be outrageous to call this a screwball comedy given the ample repartee between Michael and Darius, with Reynolds reminding us what a deft comic actor he was in Deadpool and what a sardonic philosopher Jackson played in Pulp Fiction. Bodyguard Michael is hired to protect notorious Hitman Darius to testify at The Hague against an infamous dictator, Vladislav Dukhovich (Gary Oldman, over the top again with his accents).
Although Tom O’Connor’s dialogue does not offer the crackle a good screwball film would (think Bringing Up Baby), it is rapid and charming enough to keep you smirking. As for fast and furious car chases, this film has rousers to challenge the best of F & F. The fast cars parallel the fast and funny chases.
A most enjoyable end of summer flick.
John DeSando, a Los Angeles Press Club first-place winner for National Entertainment Journalism, hosts WCBE’s It’s Movie Time and co-hosts Cinema Classics. Contact him at JDeSando@Columbus.rr.com
