I love movies about espionage. Secret Agents traveling the world in search of privileged items or documents, dodging trained assassins and committed criminals. I love it. Ironically, The Hitman’s Bodyguard has just about all of those things… packaged as a comedy.

Darius Kincaid, played by Samuel L. Jackson, is a gun-for-hire set to testify against a criminal in an international court. Interpol is charged with getting him to the hearing alive and enlists the help of Michael Bryce, a former CIA agent played by Ryan Reynolds. The rest is just comedy…

Story: This is the most interesting blend of comedy meets action meets espionage. I think the writers did a great job of crossing the characters paths. The way each person is connected to the other is intricate yet hilarious. And the way the characters interact with each other is additionally hilarious. The back story in this movie is just that – A back story. The real entertainment is a hitman who needs a bodyguard… sorta. Then, add in some car chases and some shoot-outs and we have a movie…

Performances: I will say emphatically that Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson are a great, yet interesting formula. Because they both have their own way of taking over the scene, it’s a sight to see them out-position each other for comic dominance. Both win the title for me. And Salma Hayak as Darius’s wife Sonia is the cherry on the top… She’s a bad-ass…

Visual: Europe. So the scenery is very authentic, the props are spot-on. And the action is there; car chases, shoot-outs… there are even a few scenes where the writers take us back to when and where Darius and Sonia first meet. Has almost nothing to do with the back story, but, provides a scene in a bar that gives such a vivid context to Darius as a character.

Rating: B+. This is a funny movie. It travels from one story to the next in an eclectic way. The value of this movie is if you’re a fan of Samuel L. Jackson, Ryan Reynolds or even Salma Hayak. They do not disappoint. See this movie when you want a different kind of comic relief…