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"The Hitman's Bodyguard" Is Creative And A Whole Lotta Fun!

DETROIT (WWJ) - Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson team up in the action comedy/drama "The Hitman's Bodyguard," which is unlike any other movie I've ever seen. It's so creative and so much fun, the first thing that came to my mind after I watched it was "boy, am I glad I didn't miss this movie."

That's because it is rip-roaring fun! Yes, I said "rip-roaring" and, yes, it stars a hitman, so it does have it's fair share of shootings and the like. But, Samuel L. Jackson's hitman doesn't take himself too seriously. And his character, Darius Kincaid, has a lot of fun at the expense of executive protection agent Michael Bryce.

If you've seen the trailer, and if you're anything like me, you may have wondered - and even been a little bit leery about the kind of chemistry these two stars would have on screen. But, after seeing the two of them working together for the first time, I'm actually hoping it won't be the last time we see them together.

Bryce, portrayed by Reynolds, is down on his luck after a high-profile job goes wrong. In order to get his life back on track, he reluctantly - and unknowingly - accepts a job protecting Kincaid.

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Ryan Reynolds as "Michael Bryce" and Samuel L. Jackson as "Darius Kincaid" in THE HITMAN'S BODYGUARD. Photo by Jack English.

The Hitman's Bodyguard is a thrilling two hours full of action, adventure, drama and comedy. In fact, I found myself laughing for much of the movie. Reynolds and Jackson are hilarious together. While Bryce, Reynolds' character, is kind of laid back and quite often the butt of Kincaid's jokes, Kincaid's humor is deadpan and always right-on target.

I absolutely loved this movie and practically from the moment The Hitman's Bodyguard came on screen, I had a really good feeling about it. So, I'm glad to say that I was right from the very beginning, and this movie did not disappoint. Kudos to everyone involved including the rest of the very talented cast: Gary Oldman, Salma Hayek, Elodie Yung, Joaquim De Almeida, Kirsty Mitchell and Richard E. Grant.

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Darius Kincaid (Samuel L. Jackson) and Sonia Kincaid (Salma Hayek) in THE HITMAN'S BODYGUARD. Photo by Jack English.

Tom O'Connor is the screenwriter. And a side note to all of the aspiring screenwriters out there, I found this very interesting fact in the film's production notes: "O'Connor's career in Hollywood began in 2011 with his spec script THE HITMAN'S BODYGUARD. The script sold immediately and landed on that year's Black List."

This just goes to show that anything can happen if you don't give up. It took until 2017 for this film to make it to the big screen.

Directed by Patrick Hughes. Hughes is "a highly-acclaimed feature and commercial director. He has won
numerous accolades, including a Gold Lion at the 2009 Cannes Advertising Awards, for his work with
PlayStation, BMW, Mercedes, Xbox and Schweppes. Patrick's debut feature, the modern-day Western Red Hill, premiered at the 2010 Berlin Film Festival to rave reviews. From there Patrick was hand-picked by Sylvester Stallone to join The Expendables franchise where he found himself directing an all-star cast, Hollywood Blockbuster which was to be The Expendables 3."

The Hitman's Bodyguard is rated R.

See you at the movies!

Be sure to tune in to WWJ Newsradio 950 every Friday for my weekly look at the movies with Midday Anchor Jackie Paige.

Follow Terri on Twitter @TerriJLee

Member:
Broadcast Film Critics Association (BFCA)
Detroit Film Critics Society (DFCS)
African American Film Critics Association (AAFCA)

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