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The Hitman's Bodyguard

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Watch The Hitman's Bodyguard with a subscription on Apple TV+, rent on Fandango at Home, Prime Video, or buy on Fandango at Home, Prime Video.

What to Know

The Hitman's Bodyguard coasts on Samuel L. Jackson and Ryan Reynolds' banter -- but doesn't get enough mileage to power past an overabundance of action-comedy clichés.

Critics Reviews

Audience reviews, cast & crew.

Patrick Hughes

Ryan Reynolds

Michael Bryce

Samuel L. Jackson

Darius Kincaid

Gary Oldman

Vladislav Dukhovich

Salma Hayek

Sonia Kincaid

Elodie Yung

Amelia Ryder

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The hitman's bodyguard, common sense media reviewers.

Stars have great comedic chemistry in violent buddy comedy.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Amid the violence and the humor are messages about

It's hard to consider a hit man/contract kille

Both main characters use their guns a ton, and the

Both Kincaid and Bryce have flashbacks in which th

Constant use of strong language, with expletives (

BMW, Ford, Range Rover, Land Rover, Jaguar, Merced

Kincaid drinks liquor from a flask. People at a ba

Positive Messages

Amid the violence and the humor are messages about teamwork, forgiveness, and redemption -- though the story does focus on two men who use guns professionally: one to kill and one to protect.

Positive Role Models

It's hard to consider a hit man/contract killer and a bodyguard-for-hire role models, but they're at least aware of morality and have rules about who they kill. Kincaid refuses to kill for a dictator when he realizes the man has ordered and participated in the shooting of a village. Bryce doesn't kill people unless he has to, and his job is more to keep someone alive than to kill anyone. They both love the women in their lives.

Violence & Scariness

Both main characters use their guns a ton, and the movie's body count is ridiculously high. Several disturbing scenes of a country's leader ordering the deaths of or directly killing people, including a dissident professor's wife and children (it happens off camera, but viewers see the gun being pointed at them and two shots). Many, many shoot-outs and car chases that leave people dead.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Both Kincaid and Bryce have flashbacks in which they recall how they met their significant others, and both sequences involve close-ups of the women's bodies (there's much more in the one featuring Salma Hayek -- i.e., cleavage and butt shots). Two different couples kiss.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Constant use of strong language, with expletives (mostly "f--k" and "motherf----r") peppered throughout. Other words said quite often include "bitch," "p---y," "d--k," "s--t," "a--hole," and "Jesus Christ," "Christ," goddammit," and "retard," as well as Spanish curses like "hijo de puta," "mierda," and more.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

BMW, Ford, Range Rover, Land Rover, Jaguar, Mercedes.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Kincaid drinks liquor from a flask. People at a bar are shown drinking, mostly beer. One of Bryce's clients swallows a bunch of pills.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that The Hitman's Bodyguard is a violent, swearing-filled buddy action-comedy about two men who are experts with guns, but for different reasons: Samuel L. Jackson plays an infamous hit man, while Ryan Reynolds plays a bodyguard-for-hire. Not surprisingly, there's tons of gun use; expect frequent shoot-outs with automatic/semi-automatic weapons, as well as explosions, close-up brawls/killings, and an enormous body count. But, thanks to the stars, there's also a whole lot of humor ... as well as nonstop cursing, particularly "f--k" and "motherf----r." There are underlying themes of teamwork and redemption, but the plot also includes disturbing scenes related to a genocidal Belarusian dictator ( Gary Oldman ) whom Jackson is supposed to testify against. The tyrant is known for committing widespread murder of any man, woman, or child he considered an enemy. A few scenes show drinking and kissing, as well as lingering shots of women's bodies, but violence and language are the main issues here. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

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Community Reviews

Parents say (22)
Kids say (36)

Based on 22 parent reviews

Great movie

What's the story.

THE HITMAN'S BODYGUARD starts with a tightly edited glimpse at the life of a high-end bodyguard for hire: London-based Michael Bryce ( Ryan Reynolds ) dons a beautiful suit, holsters shiny guns, and manages to keep a Japanese millionaire from harm -- until he's unexpectedly and unavoidably killed. Two years later, Bryce has gone from being a slick personal security officer to a low-rent bodyguard for shady types with cash. Meanwhile, renowned contract killer Darius Kincaid ( Samuel L. Jackson ) accepts an offer from INTERPOL: He'll trade his eye-witness testimony against a Belarusian dictator ( Gary Oldman ) in exchange for the freedom of his wrongfully imprisoned wife, Sonia ( Salma Hayek ). With most of the other witnesses against the tyrant turning up missing or dead, Kincaid must make it from Manchester to The Hague in just one day. After the initial INTERPOL escort team is ambushed by a Belarusian kill squad, leader Amelia ( Elodie Yung ) calls Bryce -- who happens to be her ex -- to personally accompany Kincaid to the international court. It turns out the hit man and the bodyguard have a history, but together they manage to hilariously put their differences aside, shoot whomever needs to be shot, and find their way on a mission for good ... for once.

Is It Any Good?

This action-comedy is unnecessarily violent and has an uneven tone, but the comedic banter between Jackson and Reynolds is undeniable. If only there was slightly less bloodlust and a less over-the-top body count, The Hitman's Bodyguard would have been a fine example of an odd-couple comedy bromance. No one's performance is a stretch: Jackson is a quick-witted, foul-mouthed, eyebrow-raising assassin who justifies his work, a role he's been perfecting since Pulp Fiction , while Reynolds is a sharp-tongued, super-detailed bodyguard who can't stop talking. No surprises there, but there was no guarantee the two stars would click, and they do.

The rest of the movie is bolstered by a funny supporting turn from Hayek, who plays Kincaid's beloved Sonia. She calls her husband her cucaracha ("cockroach") because he's basically "unkillable." She's right. The action sequences are nearly nonstop, and each shows how Kincaid is the grim reaper, but with a gun instead of a scythe. The parts of the movie featuring Oldman's irredeemable dictator, Dukhovich, are considerably less funny and should come with a trigger warning. A leader who kills a man's wife and child in front of him and is responsible for genocide is a little too scary and realistic for times when you'd be forgiven for hoping that a buddy comedy would prove to be pure escapism.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the violence in The Hitman's Bodyguard . Does the movie's humor affect its impact ? How does it compare to the violence in other action movies you've seen? Does exposure to violent media make kids more aggressive?

Do you think audiences are more comfortable hearing strong language when it comes from certain actors, like Jackson? When we hear actors swear frequently, does that lessen the impact of the words?

Compare this buddy comedy adventures to other similar movies. What do you notice about them? How does this one stack up to other favorites?

How would you describe the role of the movie's female characters? Did you notice any stereotypes ?

Movie Details

In theaters : August 18, 2017
On DVD or streaming : November 21, 2017
Cast : Ryan Reynolds , Samuel L. Jackson , Salma Hayek
Director : Patrick Hughes
Inclusion Information : Black actors, Female actors, Latino actors, Middle Eastern/North African actors
Studio : Summit Entertainment
Genre : Action/Adventure
Run time : 111 minutes
MPAA rating : R
MPAA explanation : strong violence and language throughout
Last updated : November 27, 2023

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The Hitman's Bodyguard (2017)

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‘the hitman’s bodyguard’: film review.

Ryan Reynolds tries to convince Samuel L. Jackson he needs protection in Patrick Hughes' action-comedy 'The Hitman's Bodyguard.'

By THR Staff

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Having directed nearly every other male action star (and a slew of top-billed non-stars) in The Expendables 3 , Patrick Hughes adds Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson to his stable in The Hitman’s Bodyguard , an action-comedy that takes the Midnight Run template to The Hague. The tweak here, as one will guess from the title, is that this tale’s protector (Reynolds) may be redundant given the lethal skills of the man in his care. That question prompts much bickering in this diverting but hardly thrilling romp, which fails to develop much chemistry between its stars despite their individual charms.

Though likely to perform much better than that 2014 Stallone/Willis/etc./etc. flop, the pic won’t sate those who in Deadpool found Reynolds to be a perfect mixologist of violence and self-aware comedy. Jackson’s admirers may have a better time, if only because it’s one more chance to see him play someone other than Nick Fury.

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Film Review: ‘The Hitman’s Bodyguard’

Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson's foul-mouthed chemistry makes this high-concept action comedy a pleasant late-summer surprise.

By Peter Debruge

Peter Debruge

Chief Film Critic

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'The Hitman's Bodyguard' Review: A Screwball Action Comedy

“The Hitman’s Bodyguard” is about as close to a live-action cartoon as you’re likely to get this year — you know, the kind where someone blows a cannonball-shaped hole through Wile E. Coyote’s abdomen or a stick of dynamite reduces him to a pile of cinders, and the next thing you know, he’s up and chasing the Road Runner again. That’s not a style that works much of the time (see “Shoot ’Em Up” or early Arnold Schwarzenegger flop “The Villain”), but in the hands of “The Expendables 3” helmer Patrick Hughes — and more importantly, owing to the chemistry of stars Samuel L. Jackson and Ryan Reynolds — it makes for a delightfully ridiculous screwball action comedy.

The premise is simple: Jackson plays the hitman, Darius Kincaid, Reynolds plays his bodyguard, Michael Bryce, and they both need to get from London to the Hague without getting killed. That’s easier said than done as a seemingly inexhaustible army of Belarusian mercenaries do their best to rub them both out (to the extent of firing bazookas down Amsterdam canals) in order to prevent Kincaid from giving testimony against genocidal warlord Vladislav Dukhovich (Gary Oldman, projecting pure evil from his eyes, while the rest of his face is hidden behind prosthetic facial scars).

Normally, Bryce and Kincaid are bitter rivals. The former works to keep his clients alive, no matter how corrupt they might be, while the latter has led a very successful career in eliminating them. Kincaid has nearly killed Bryce no fewer than 28 times, but only once has he managed to eliminate someone Bryce was hired to protect (we’ll leave it to you to discover/guess who that might have been). Actually, it’s too obvious to write around, so skip this sentence if you’re afraid of spoilers: The movie opens with the botched job that ended Bryce’s relationship with Interpol agent Amelia Roussel (Elodie Yung) and cost him his triple-A status.

Popular on Variety

Now Bryce is back at the bottom of the food chain, living in his car and chauffeuring around white-collar deadbeats (like Richard Grant, who plays a hopped-up human target with a periwinkle Rolls Royce and a massive quantity of heroin stashed up his rectum). Meanwhile, with more than 200 kills to his name, Kincaid is at the top of his game when he gets nabbed visiting his wife Sonia in hospital (Salma Hayek like you’ve never seen her, saltier and more ferocious even than Jacki Weaver was in “Animal Kingdom”). “When she severed that dude’s carotid artery with a beer bottle … I knew right then,” Kincaid says, misting up as he remembers the violent couple’s bloody meet-cute.

With his beloved Sonia behind bars (it’s unclear why they can do this, although that flashback bar fight alone might justify it), Kincaid is willing to do anything for her release, even if it means risking his own life. That’s essentially what it comes down to, since his protection detail has been compromised, and Interpol’s assistant director (Joaquim de Almeida, playing it obvious) is working directly with Dukhovich to kill Kincaid en route to the tribunal — except that the evidence, when it finally comes, suggests that the hitman would’ve been fine just turning over access to his FTP site. No matter: It’s more fun trying to follow this “get me to the church on time”-style runaround, as Bryce is forced to make nice with Kincaid in hopes that it will give him a second chance with Amelia.

It’s no small challenge to multi-task two romantic subplots while also trying to manage the already-combustible dynamic between Bryce and Kincaid, and yet, Hughes pulls it off, thanks to a wildly irreverent script credited to Tom O’Connor — only his second to be produced, though earlier thriller “Fire With Fire” offers zero trace of this film’s comic touch, suggesting the work of other, unsung contributors here.

Jackson and Reynolds come to the table with very distinct star personae, and it’s clear the foul-mouthed comedy went through a serious rewrite to fit its two leads. Take Bryce’s line, “This guy single-handedly ruined the word ‘motherfucker,’” used to describe a man who has elevated the expletive’s usage to an art (the way actor Clay Davis has cornered the long, drawn-out “sheeeee-it”). In a film that’s only so-so in the action department, the real fun comes from the incessant bickering between the two stars — which falls somewhere between “Bringing Up Baby” and the combative, high-attitude style of Shane Black buddy movies.

The rest is so over-the-top, the only way to play along is to treat it as an elaborate Roadrunner cartoon, where Kincaid can take a bullet to the leg, extract the bullet himself (a Rambo-era cliché meant to convey gritty realism amid completely unbelievable violence) and jump off a roof, without so much as limping. An early staircase shoot-out pales in comparison to last month’s “Atomic Blonde” (although this movie makes better use of ’80s songs), while other sequences are either too heavily computer-assisted or shot with blatant stunt doubles — as when Bryce wears his helmet for the entirety of a drawn-out motorcycle chase.

Another scene parodied over the end credits features an unflinching Reynolds superimposed against the Dutch capital, unfazed by the brutal bloodbath unfolding behind him. Did the actor even go to Amsterdam? That much isn’t clear, though the crew certainly did, with units in the Netherlands, Bulgaria and the U.K. lending great scenery and serious production value to one of Millennium Media’s all-time most entertaining actioners. Coming from a company known for pyrotechnic B movies, “The Hitman’s Bodyguard” is better than much costlier studio-backed equivalents (such as “The Mexican,” “The Bounty Hunter” and “This Means War”).

Plus, it comes with the added bonus of listening to Samuel L. Jackson sing the original (Oscar-eligible?) ditty “Nobody Gets Out Alive,” also featured over the closing credits. It’s a nice display of versatility from an actor who is very comfortably within his wheelhouse here, ultra-cool and cockroach-unkillable as he laughs off every scrape. Reynolds plays it cute, but Jackson steals the show, putting Bryce in his place with the existential question — the kind philosopher-hitman Jules Winnfield might have asked in “Pulp Fiction” — about which of the two men has chosen the more righteous path: “he who kills evil motherfuckers, or he who protects them”?

Reviewed at RealD screening room, Los Angeles, Aug. 9, 2017. MPAA Rating: R. Running time: 118 MIN.

Production: A Lionsgate release of a Summit Entertainment, Millennium Media presentation, in association with Cristal Pictures, East Light Media, of a Millennium Media, Nu Boyana Film Studios, CGF production. Producers: John Thompson, Matt O'Toole, Les Weldon, Mark Gill. Executive producers: Avi Lerner, Trevor Short, Boaz Davidson, Jason Bloom , Douglas Urbanski, Jeffrey Greenstein, Yariv Lerner, Christine Otal, Christa Campbell, Lati Grobman, Matt Milam, Chris Jing Liu, Scott Einbinder. Tom De Mol. Co-executive producer: Lonnie Ramati.
Crew: Director: Patrick Hughes. Screenplay: Tom O'Connor. Camera (color, widescreen): Jules O'Loughlin. Editor: Jake Roberts. Music: Atli Örvarsson.
With: Ryan Reynolds, Samuel L. Jackson, Gary Oldman, Salma Hayek, Elodie Yung, Joaquim De Almeida, Kirsty Mitchell, Richard E. Grant.

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The Hitman's Bodyguard is an okay airplane movie: EW review

There are sure-thing blockbusters, and films bound for awards-season gold. And then there are the ones that answer to a higher calling — the in-flight “why not?” we click when all the tiny pretzels and blue potato chips are gone and the map icon says Cleveland is still three long, empty hours away. The Hitman’s Bodyguard is strictly an Economy Coach experience, but it’s brainlessly fun enough in a late-’90s Brett Ratner buddy-comedy kind of way. (If there wasn’t the stray smartphone on screen and another director’s name above the title, it might have been exactly that.)

Ryan Reynolds is Michael Bryce, a type-A “executive protection agent” who prides himself on never having lost a client, until a Japanese arms dealer is assassinated on his watch. Saddled with the bodyguard equivalent of a one-star Yelp rating, he is reduced to working small-time side jobs when an ex-flame at Interpol (French actress Elodie Yung) calls in a favor: She’s been charged with getting hitman Darius Kincaid (Samuel L. Jackson) safely to the Hague to testify against a Belarusian strongman (Gary Oldman) who has so far managed to eliminate every other witness in the war-crimes case against him.

Something never quite adjacent to hilarity ensues, though Jackson deserves a lot of the credit for what works; playing the loose, all-id Oscar to Reynolds’ fussy Felix, he just wants to enjoy life and get back to his wrongly incarcerated wife (Salma Hayek playing that freshest of stereotypes, a Latin spitfire). The script careens between European set pieces—a van full of singing Italian nuns, the sun-dappled canals of Amsterdam — like a Zagat guide gone berserk, and kill shots pop off with startling frequency, a Jackson Pollock splatter of casual, almost incidental violence. If you want to see Oldman speak Russian and murder a small child, or watch Hayek do prison yoga and find new ways to conjugate Spanish obscenities, step right up. If not, just recline your seatback and nap till it’s over. C+

The Hitman’s Bodyguard – Film Review

A fun but silly buddy movie that squeezes in some philosophy and romance too

The Hitman’s Bodyguard sounds like it ought to sit alongside Snakes On A Plane and Cleaner in Samuel L. Jackson’s enormous CV. In fact, this film’s offbeat humour elevates it to the action-comedy corner, somewhere between Kingsman and The Incredibles .

We first meet Ryan Reynolds’ deadpan bodyguard, Michael Bryce, as his career is shot down along with a high-powered client. He’s at his lowest ebb when an ex in the Secret Service forces him to escort Samuel L. Jackson’s inked-up assassin, Darius Kincaid, to Holland so he can testify in a war criminal’s trial and attain a pardon for his wrongly imprisoned wife, Sonia (Salma Hayek). If Bryce does his job right, he has a shot at regaining his ‘triple A’ protection status: everybody wins.

Although predictable, the clashes between Jackson’s gung-ho killer and Reynolds’ cautious protector create sparks. During their manic road trip to Amsterdam, they take jabs at each other with aggressively bad singing, and have wildly different experiences hitchhiking in a bus full of nuns. The film even finds itself navigating moments of moral philosophy with Jackson’s assassin: “Who is more evil?” he asks Bryce. “He who kills evil motherf**kers, or he who protects them?”

Adding a romantic edge is Kincaid’s obsession with relationships, allowing for some memorably kick-ass scenes by Kincaid and Bryce’s respective flames. Buried in the mix is a masterful Amsterdam chase sequence crammed with beautiful tracking shots and surreal humour. The Hitman’s Bodyguard is not a complicated film, but it remains constantly surprising thanks to its consistent refusal to obey generic rules.

Jason's Movie Blog

A movie blog for movie reviews, trailers, and more.

The Hitman’s Bodyguard (2017) Review

REYNOLDS AND JACKSON SHINE

In this otherwise dull movie.

The “buddy cop” genre of films has been awhile for quite some time. While it doesn’t redefine the main staple genres of motion pictures (i.e. action, comedy, drama, fantasy, sci-fi, horror, etc.), this subgenre category of films was popular during the mid to late 80s and early 90s, with such films like Die Hard , Point Break , Lethal Weapon , and Beverly Hills Cops amongst many others. Eventually, the genre, which was heavily focused on more grittier action and drama, switched to a comedic side, producing raunchier R-rated comedies pieces like The Heat , 21 Jump Street , Ride Along, and Hot Pursuit , and CHiPs . Now, Millennial Films, Lionsgate Films, and director Patrick Hughes present the newest iteration of the buddy cop genre with the movie The Hitman’s Bodyguard . Does this film rise to the challenge and change up the status quo of these particular motion pictures or does it fall into formulaic pit of predictability?

Years ago, Michael Bryce (Ryan Reynolds) was a triple A-rated executive protection agent, living the easy life with his safe and secure job position. He had it all and was enjoying it. Unfortunately, all the changes when one of his clients is killed under his protection. Two years later, Michael has lost everything, including his girlfriend Amelia Roussel (Elodie Yung) and his precious triple A-rating statues as he’s resorted to protecting anyone who will hire him. Meanwhile, Darius Kincaid (Samuel L. Jackson), is a professional hitman who made a few past mistakes and lands himself in Interpol’s custody. However, Interpol is ready to make an offer to Darius by protecting his incarcerated wife, Sonia (Salma Hayek), in return for a testimony against the President of Belarus, the notorious dictator Vladislav Dukhovich (Gary Oldman), who is standing on trial in international court. Tasked with babysitting Darius in exchange for his reinstatement of being a triple A status, Michael is reunited with the convicted hitman (the two have a history), forced to set aside their hostiles for each other as they journey across Europe to get Darius to the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherland to testify. However, Dukhovich’s reach extends across Europe as sends his enforcers to try to intercept the pair from reaching the Netherlands. That is, unless Michael and Darius don’t kill each other in the process.

THE GOOD / THE BAD

As stated above, the various angles of the popular buddy cop films have been played out and reimagined year after year. Heck, it seems like there’s at least one (possibly even two) that comes out everywhere. 2017 already saw its first one with the movie CHiPS , action comedy reboot / reimagining of the once popular TV show, but that film fell particular hard and failed to impress fans of the TV show and even with modern viewers of the buddy cop. The Hitman’s Bodyguard is the latest endeavor in the “buddy cop” genre. I do remember seeing the trailers for this movie in theaters and, despite the teaser trailer using the Whitney Houston song “I will Always Love You” from the movie The Bodyguard , the movie just look generic to me. Thus, when the movie got released, I decided not to see the movie immediately as I pursed to watch other feature films that peaked my interest more. Now, that I have free time and I saw most of the movies I wanted to see in theaters, I decided to finally watch The Hitman’s Bodyguard . So, what did I think of it? Well, I didn’t have expectations for this movie and (unfortunately) the movie didn’t even meet my already low expectations for it. Basically, The Hitman’s Bodyguard is mainly a vehicle for Reynolds and Jackson to perform in as the film’s two main title characters…. everything is just unremarkable and unmemorable.

The Hitman’s Bodyguard is directed by Patrick Hughes, who’s in known for directing other films such as Red Hill and The Expendables 3 . With his recent endeavor being The Expendable 3 , a self-aware and over-the-top action flick with numerous big-named action stars, Hughes takes that certain approach when crafting this particular movie as The Hitman’s Bodyguard stages a lot of action set pieces and sequences, which includes various action chases nuances (car chase, boat chase, motorcycle, etc.) as well as some close-quarter fighting (gun shootouts and brawling). Additionally, just as to be expected, the movie shows off the different styles between Michael and Darius, with the hitman being more flashy, deadly and taking the direct approach in comparison to the bodyguard who is more focused on stealth and protection. Primarily, it’s fun combination that Hughes presents, setting the movie stage for an odd couple pairing of “buddy cop” angle (except it’s with hitman and a bodyguard). Filmmaking wise, the movie is adequately made, with everything consisting of costumes, production design, film editing, cinematography, and even the music is even keel and not much to rave about. So, it’s basically somewhere in the middle, which neither good or bad…. just mediocre.

Unfortunately, The Hitman’s Bodyguard is far from being a perfect film, with several large problems that do arise that make it bland and almost boring to watch. For starters, the film’s action is, for a lack of a better term, run-of-the-mill. Basically, these sequences are staged well and some do manage to be a little bit creative, but most fail to deliver in execution and excitement. To be truthfully, the film actually has too many small action sequences as the film’s goes into a sort of repetitive cycle of sort, beginning with some narrative beats, then some back-and-forth witty banter between Michael and Darius, then some action, and then the cycle begins again. It follows that regiment for most of the film’s runtime, which already too long and clocking two minutes under two hours long. This, of course, makes the movie stale and formulaic.

This harkens back to the film’s main problem, which is the script. Written by screenplay writer Tom O’Connor, who’s only film writing credit is to the 2012 film Fire with Fire , presents several interesting ideas in the movie, but those ideas take a back seat for most of the movie, which is more focused on its action and comedy aspects. Even the story itself is a little bit vague and following a familiar generic path of two different individuals that have to come to together (putting aside their differences) to stop a bad guy. Basically, O’Connor (and by extension Hughes) hits all the necessary troupes and beats found within an action / comedy “buddy cop” film, but really doesn’t make The Hitman’s Bodyguard come into its own as it lingers too much into the shadows of others similar films. Additionally, the movie’s script also tries to paint a picture of who’s the “good guy” of the two (i.e. the hitman or the bodyguard), but the film doesn’t reach a satisfying conclusion on this posed question as Hughes just spend most of the feature in either comedy banter between Michael and Darius or putting those two characters in some type of action scene. Again, this is due to the film’s weak script.

Perhaps where the movie shines the best (and brightest) is found within “odd couple” dynamics between Michael Bryce and Darius Kincaid. Of course, this is not so much credited to the film’s screenplay or written dialogue, but rather to the charismatic duo of Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson in playing their respective characters. Reynolds, known for his roles in Deadpool , The Proposal , and Green Lantern (yes, that bad one that he did), does seem perfect as the straight-laced / straight-man, by-the-book bodyguard, while Jackson, known for his roles in Pulp Fiction , The Hateful Eight , and The Negotiator , excels as the wilder and “shoot first, talk later” free-wheeling man that has a soft spot in his moral code. Respectfully, both actors can handle comedic dialogue in their delivery of lines and it certainly does show that in the movie, but, like I said above, their characters arc are, for the most part, pretty straightforward clichés that are found within the “buddy cop” genre. It also doesn’t help that screenplay does limit their character development into a somewhat “cookie cutter” model of their respective characters, making the well-roundness of Michael and Darius a bit on the flat side of things. Still, both Reynolds and Jackson have proven (many times) that he each one can do great work within action and / or comedy. Thus, it comes as no surprise that they both excel (and almost complement each other) in The Hitman’s Bodyguard and perhaps, thanks to their on-screen presence and chemistry, produces the most laughs in the entire film.

Unfortunately, the rest of the cast in The Hitman’s Bodyguard , despite most of them being recognizable from their other projects, are generally flat, one-note stock character that fill in the side / supporting ranks. The characters of Amelia and Sonia, the film’s two female love interest, are, more or less, represented to had extra weight of “fluff” to the movie’s two main characters. Of the two, the character of Amelia, played by Elodie Yung, is more developed in the movie. Known for his roles in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo , Gods of Egypt , and Daredevil , Yung has a stronger representation in the film as an Interpol agent, and Michael’s ex-girlfriend. Still, her character isn’t that quite revolutionary, which hinders Yung’s portrayal of Amelia. Unfortunately, the character of Sonia Kincaid, who is played by Salma Hayek, is more one-dimensional. Known for her roles in Frida , Desperado , and Once Upon a Time in Mexico , Hayek is humorous as the feisty (and foul-mouthed) Sonia, but her character is really unnecessary to the film’s narrative. Yes, she’s Darius’s wife, but there’s really no point of her character in the movie beyond that reasoning. Thus, Sonia (as a whole) is superfluous to the film, despite being played by the beautiful Salma Hayek. All in all, both female leads are just feigned half-hearted attempts that are only presented as an unimportant side / supporting characters.

As for the film’s baddie, seasoned actor Gary Oldman, known for his roles in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes , Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight trilogy and the upcoming film The Darkest Hour , plays the part of villainous Dukhovich. While Oldman is a very talented actor, the character of Dukhovich is a very flat villain. The character shows off all the right amount “villainy” of an evil dictator, but the character itself is extremely one-dimensional that it comes off of being too cliché. In truth, the movie never really fully explains why Dukhovich is even on trial to begin with. I guess for just being an evil dictator? Oldman brings all his theatrical gravitas to his role, but even a talented individual such as himself can’t help this paper thin written character, which comes off as a generic puppet master to propel the film’s events forward, from being interesting and / or memorable. Other noteworthy actor (aka familiar faces) in small supporting roles, include Yuri Kolokolnikov ( Game of Thrones and Transporter Refueled) as Dukhovich head thug goon Ivan, Rod Hallett ( The Tudors and Anna ) as Professor Asimov, Joaquim de Almeida ( Fast Five and Our Brand is Crisis ) as the Assistant Director of Interpol Jean Foucher, and Richard E. Grant ( Doctor Who and Logan ) as the drug-addicted corporate executive named Mr. Seifert.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Reynolds and Jackson team up together as an unlikely pair of bodyguard and hitman counterparts in the movie The Hitman’s Bodyguard . Director Patrick Hughes newest film presents another shade to the well-familiar action-comedy romps to the “buddy cop” genre, using the on-screen presences / charisma of Reynolds and Jackson as the primary focus for the feature. Unfortunately, beyond the two leads, the rest of movie doesn’t have that much to offer, which comes off as being a generic and clichéd action-comedy endeavor; complete with a weak story, a lackluster execution in action, an unmemorable villain, and flat side characters. Personally, I thought this movie was pretty “meh” and disappointing. To be fair, I wasn’t super psyched to see this movie, but the film just didn’t have that many things to like beyond the two lead performances. So, my recommendation for this movie is definitely a “skip it”. It’s not worth seeing in theaters and / or buying later on home release (physical or digital copy) as I suspect it will be on TV sometime in the coming years (if you still want to see the movie). However, at the end of the day, with not much sustain power at being memorable or entertaining, The Hitman’s Bodyguard will most likely fade into the background in the plethora movie releases of 2017. In short, Reynolds and Jackson shine in this otherwise dull “buddy cop” movie.

2.3 Out of 5 (Skip It)

Released on: august 18th, 2017, reviewed on: october 3rd, 2017.

The Hitman’s Bodyguard is 118 minutes long and is rated R for strong violence and language throughout

Movie Review – The Hitman’s Bodyguard (2017)

July 15, 2017 by Ben Robins

The Hitman’s Bodyguard , 2017.

Directed by Patrick Hughes. Starring Ryan Reynolds, Samuel L. Jackson, Salma Hayek, Gary Oldman, and Elodie Yung.

A top-rated bodyguard struggling to rebuild his reputation after a calamitous mistake, is forced to help deliver an infamous hitman to testify at the trial of a murderous dictator.

From Shane Black’s Lethal Weapon, to Shane Black’s The Nice Guys and err, Shane Black’s Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang (not forgetting Walter Hill’s 48 Hrs or even the Lord/Miller 21 Jump Street update) – all the best buddy movies are built on two totally un-moveable foundations. A winning bromance is a given, but without an absolutely killer, fast-talking script en-tow too, the whole thing very quickly falls apart. Luckily for Expendables 3 director Patrick Hughes, he has both right here, all tied up in a pretty little, Ryan Reynolds-shaped bow. Unluckily for Tom O’Connor’s cleverly old-school script though, there’s quite a few production-based bumps along the way.

Let’s start with the positives, namely, just how utterly fantastic Reynolds and Jackson are on-screen together. Thanks largely to his comedic renaissance more recently, Reynolds is perfectly cast here as a down-on-his-luck bodyguard, forced to ferret around low-rent clients after what we’ll call a “career mishap” some years before. Handy with a gun and heavy on the zingers, he’s basically a slightly less sarcastic Deadpool without the costume here, which totally works for a film that’s as frequently silly as this one is. Jackson is one of the funniest he’s ever been here too, playing the whole thing for laughs, and bouncing off Reynolds’ prim-and-proper bodyguard with the hefty dose of sass the script needed.

On a comedic level, there’s not an awful lot at fault, even if The Hitman’s Bodyguard isn’t exactly the deepest film you’ll ever see. The jokes are mostly one-liners, characters taking pot-shots at each other, there’s barely even so much as a hint of fourth-wall-breaking (which is oddly quite refreshing post- Jump Street ) and compared to the superhero CGI fests the summer season is now used to, the whole thing basically feels like it should’ve been made twenty or thirty years ago. In fact, at constant points throughout, Hughes’ film will actually leave you wishing it probably was.

The main brunt of the action here is terrifically handled, loading up on everything from insane car chases along the canals of central Amsterdam, to full-blooded shootouts in the stairways of government buildings. For the most part it’s entirely practical too, but the occasional digital disaster does threaten things with a little wobble here and there. A very obviously fake explosion or two, a building fall that’s very obviously not a building fall; it’s not much, but certainly enough to pull you firmly out of what is an otherwise fairly fun actioner. These newer, cheaper work-arounds have certainly made films like this (that some studios might still consider a bit of a gamble), more financially viable, but in many cases I’m sure most audiences would rather have no explosion at all rather than a cheap-looking animated one.

Which brings us squarely into where The Hitman’s Bodyguard sadly falters most. Budget issues don’t necessarily have to be a problem; some of the cheapest films around, with the right grading and production design behind them, have ended up looking the most professional. Frustratingly though, this isn’t really the case here. On top of some of the dodgy effects mentioned above, there’s a real lack of scope to the world-trekking portion of the adventure here. Replacing the great cities of the world on Reynolds and Jackson’s epic cross-country quest are Manchester and (I shit you not) Coventry; major chase sequences take place on quiet country roads and in (again, I shit you not) pub car-parks, and the head-office of world-renowned intelligence agency Interpol looks like an old disused set from decades-old British soap The Bill .

There’s no denying that the action set-pieces and O’Connor’s roaringly funny script are good enough together to outrun these general production problems overall, but the technical setbacks do end up making the whole thing just feel a lot less fun than it could’ve well been. Throw in a practically invisible Gary Oldman performance and a totally wild-eyed, but underused Salma Hayek and it’s clear to see the potential that’s been squandered here.

While Hughes can clearly direct action as well as some of the genre’s 80s-era greats, and Reynolds and Jackson certainly prove themselves watchable as ever as the leading duo, The Hitman’s Bodyguard just ultimately feels like it’s missing out in one too many departments. With a better villain and a bit more money behind it, this could’ve easily been a surprise summer hit, with another cult following just waiting to happen. But as is, it’s more likely to be quietly enjoyed, then sadly forgotten.

Flickering Myth Rating – Film ★ ★ ★ / Movie ★ ★ ★ ★

Ben Robins / @BMLRobins

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Movie Review: The Hitman’s Bodyguard (2017)

Frank Ochieng
Movie Reviews
5 responses
--> August 31, 2017

The high-octane novelty act that is the boisterous buddy actioner, The Hitman’s Bodyguard , should, by the estimation of studio heads, bring the blistering high-wire shenanigans to shakeup the late August box office blues. The draw — other than the grandstanding of flashy explosions, animated gunplay and calculating car chases — is obviously the rollicking rapport between hedonistic hotshot leads Samuel L. Jackson (“ Kong: Skull Island ”) and Ryan Reynolds (“ Deadpool ”) as the titular characters. The flippant give-and-take chaos that surrounds Jackson and Reynolds does, in fact, provide some occasional irreverence. However, The Hitman’s Bodyguard ultimately shoots anemic bullets with its empty-minded comedic violence, intermittent broadened jokes and devil-may-care carnage that has all the charm of an uncontrollable rusty buzzsaw.

Reynolds stars as Michael Bryce, a once highly paid “protection specialist” whose top-notch bodyguard duties were on demand by the elite crowd that paid top dollar for his specialized services. However, Bryce experiences a major setback when one of his privileged clients — a Japanese bigshot with prominent pull — becomes a victim of a sniper’s assassination. This instantly ruins Bryce professional reputation and he loses everything in the process.

Soon, Bryce will be contacted by his ex-lover and Interpol official Amelia Roussel (Elodie Yung, “ G.I. Joe: Retaliation ”) as she and her associates are assigned with transferring notorious hitman Darius Kincaid (Jackson) to the International Criminal Court at the Hague to testify against ruthless Belarusian baddie, Vladislav Dukhovich (Gary Oldman, “ Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy ”). Unfortunately, Amelia and her fellow agents botch the mission to transport Kincaid and may be hampered by some unscrupulous characters within the international police system. Amelia and her handlers cannot afford to be compromised by leaks within their ranks and need a serious backup plan concerning Kincaid’s travel arrangements.

So in order to win back his ex-lover’s heart (and his own confidence and capability as an efficient protection agent) Bryce agrees to help Amelia and her team to get the targeted Kincaid from England to The Netherlands in one piece at the prescribed hour otherwise Dukhovich will automatically go free (a bewildering court ordered stipulation). Naturally this will be a tall order to complete as there are tainted sources within the international law enforcement establishment and colleagues of the dastardly Dukhovich standing with guns in the way. Thus the challenge begins as the conflicted Bryce must ensure the safety of one criminal to guarantee the permanent incarceration of another.

The stakes are high for both Bryce and Kincaid to try and co-exist as they embark on their risky adventurous trek through incredibly mindless — yet entertaining — banter. The golden questions are in full force: Can the gun-toting globetrotters survive each other’s mutual disdain while ducking and dodging Dukhovich’s nefarious operatives? Will the shady Interpol moles out to discredit Bryce’s holster-wearing honeybun jeopardize her powerful position? Furthermore, can Kincaid’s guaranteed presence at the Hague once and for all save the world from Dukhovich’s poisonous wrath should he be unleashed from the court to continue his heavy-handed sordid sins?

As previously mentioned, the selling point in The Hitman’s Bodyguard is clearly Reynolds’ fastidious Ying to Jackson’s furious Yang. The playful bickering between the beleaguered bodyguard and lippy hitman as the turmoil unfolds has its few chuckles here and there. Darius Kincaid fills in nicely as a second tier acerbic gunslinger, but one would probably favor Jackson’s other famed hitman in his Oscar-nominated turn as the Bible-quoting extinguisher Jules Winnfield from 1994’s classic “Pulp Fiction” more. Reynolds serves as an adequate partner-in-crime straight man whose personal strife is juicy ammunition for the problematic pairing.

While Jackson’s and Reynolds’ on-screen antics methodically fuels this fast-paced farce the inclusion of exploding cars, reckless speedboats racing on European canals, a busload of singing nuns and random bothersome killers taking numerous potshots all add up to a bunch of hyperactive hokum. There is nothing distinctively original or inviting about the suspense as the zany madness jumps from one imaginative locale to another without much purpose to fortify the string of sketchy action sequences. Director Patrick Hughes injects his brand of badboy behavior with powder keg punch (as seen in his “ The Expendables 3 ”), but nothing really registers beyond the Jackson-Reynolds cockeyed camaraderie. Supporting players such as Kincaid’s hair-triggered spouse Sonia (Salma Hayek, “ Beatriz at Dinner ”) and Oldman’s diabolical dictator Dukhovich are effective in so much as they have fun stealing the few scenes they are assigned.

So although nothing special, perhaps the dead end of summer will turn The Hitman’s Bodyguard into a welcomed distraction worth aiming your box office bullets at . . . it most certainly beats embracing the fun-loving naughtiness of an emoji.

Tagged: bodyguard , court , dictator , hitmen , protection , witness protection

Frank Ochieng has been an online movie reviewer for various movie outlets throughout the years before coming on board at CMC. Previously, Frank had been a film critic for The Boston Banner (now The Bay State Banner) urban newspaper and had appeared on Boston's WBZ NewsRadio 1030 AM for an 11-year run as a recurring media commentator/panelist on the "Movie/TV Night" overnight broadcasts. He is a member of the Online Film Critics Society (OFCS) and the Internet Film Critics Society (IFCS). Frank is a graduate of Suffolk University in the historic section of Boston's Beacon Hill.

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'Movie Review: The Hitman’s Bodyguard (2017)' have 5 comments

August 31, 2017 @ 1:49 pm Howard Schumann

Very well written. Sounds like the kind of bombastic film that may translate in to a big office hit. There’s always room for more murder and mayhem to substitute for thinking.

August 31, 2017 @ 4:00 pm Bruno

Seem a bit to silly for me:Good review tho.

September 1, 2017 @ 10:58 am Cordoobia

One of the more successful genres that doesn’t take much effort to make is the ‘buddy cop’ movie. It’s as easy as adding a ‘wild’ character with the ‘straight’ character and throwing ’em into situations that’ll get them butting heads.

September 1, 2017 @ 6:35 pm 11mm

Does Samuel L. Jackson ever play against type? He’s been doing the same damn character for 20 years…..

October 4, 2017 @ 9:57 pm Tam

Great review but the film is so familiar. Same story with different actors chasing cars, blowing up things and usually the characters are two men of different races. Seen it a hundred times and don’t care to see it again. Nice job on the review though.

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The Hitman’s Bodyguard Review

18 Aug 2017

118 minutes

The Hitman’s Bodyguard

Typified by the work of Shane Black, the buddy action comedy was a Hollywood staple in the ’80s and ’90s, partly because on each occasion the audience knew exactly what they were going to get: a mismatched couple (often one conventional, one rule-breaker; sometimes one black, one white), pitched together to take down a Big Bad, crack wise and teach each other some life lessons along the way. This was all seasoned with car crashes, punishing punch-ups and the obligatory jump off a tall building with no chance of survival. That the model fell out of favour is partly down to an audience drawn away from star power to super-powers, but more pertinently, to the fact that eventually everyone had learned the beats and arcs backwards. Familiarity didn’t breed contempt; it sired apathy.

Never finds the energy, chemistry and surprises to thrive.

Given its absence from the screen, the idea of bringing back the buddy action comedy feels both nostalgic and refreshing in its simplicity. Unfortunately, The Hitman’s Bodyguard isn’t the bullet-ridden vehicle to do it. On paper the ingredients seem perfect: Tom O’Connor’s script was on the 2011 Black List of the hottest unproduced screenplays and the casting — the slick persona of Ryan Reynolds and the attitude of Samuel L. Jackson — seems inspired. But The Expendables 3 director Patrick Hughes’ film never finds the energy, chemistry and surprises to make the over-familiar concoction thrive.

In terms of buddy action comedy lore, Reynolds’ Michael Bryce is The Sensible One. Bryce is a play-it-by-the-book “triple A-rated security guard” whose reputation is in tatters after his high-profile Japanese client (Mr Kurosawa — honestly!) is taken out. Forced to take on a lower-grade form of client (including Richard E. Grant), he is called by Interpol agent and ex-girlfriend Amelia Ryder (Élodie Yung, Elektra in the Netflix Daredevil series) to shepherd the improbably named Darius Kincaid (Jackson), the world’s most respected assassin, to testify against merciless European dictator Vladislav Dukhovich (Oldman, ticking the Brit villain box). And, of course, Kincaid has tried to kill Bryce 28 times.

So what follows is a Eurotrip that flips from the UK (including, perhaps, cinema’s first action sequence set in Coventry) to Italy (there is a fun sing-song with a group of nuns, much to Bryce’s embarrassment) to The Hague, where an extended car-boat-bike chase is borderline interminable. The violence is brutal, the body count high, but there is an uninventive feel to Hughes’ staging of the action — it’s fair to middling octane at best. There are some Tarantino-esque tweaks to add a different flavour: Salma Hayek as Kincaid’s incarcerated, yoga-loving, hard-nut wife pops up from time to time and a flashback to her beating up a roomful of heavies to the strains of Lionel Richie’s Hello , while Kincaid looks on smitten, adds a fun note.

Still, a buddy action comedy lives and dies on the sparring and chemistry of its star pairing. Despite attacking the material with gusto, Reynolds and Jackson can’t make substandard repartee (“Eat my ass!” “That’s what she said”) and rote character arcs land. By the time their initial hatred has blossomed into mutual respect, the fun, like Bryce and Kincaid, has leapt blindly off a tall building.

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Movie Reviews

Tv/streaming, collections, great movies, chaz's journal, contributors, hitman's wife's bodyguard.

Now streaming on:

After more than a year of pandemic-induced stay-at-home orders, audiences are eager to hit movie theaters and reunite in a dark room with a larger-than-life big screen and booming sound. As theaters slowly open up, studios are gleefully releasing titles in preparation for what is hopeful to be a profitable and exciting big summer launch. Will "Hitman Wife’s Bodyguard" kickstart the action?

In 2017's " The Hitman's Bodyguard ," with his reputation destroyed after a painfully unsuccessful delivery of a distinguished Japanese client, triple-A protection agent Michael Bryce ( Ryan Reynolds ) was reduced to a second-class bodyguard for hire, accepting an offer from Interpol to escort an international assassin, Darius Kincaid ( Samuel L. Jackson ), from Manchester to the Hague. The mismatched duo were forced to put aside their grudges with comedic, action-driven results. However, with his beloved Sonia ( Salma Hayek ) now behind bars, Kincaid was willing to do anything for her release, even if it meant risking his own life.

As this film opens, Bryce is still brooding over losing his triple-A status, and is highly encouraged by his therapist (hilariously portrayed by Caroline Goodall ) to put his guns away and go on a quiet, restful Italian holiday in Capri. As a bluegrass soundtrack bellows in the background, it become apparent his vacation will be short-lived when Sonia appears guns blazing, this time enlisting Michael to assist with rescuing Darius. Eventually, the trio are forced by Interpol agent Bobby ( Frank Grillo ) to track down a device possessed by a criminal named Aristotle ( Antonio Banderas ), who desires to thrust all of Europe into a blackout as revenge for sanctions on the Greek economy.

Not quite as straight-faced as hit franchises like those about Ethan Hunt or James Bond, "Hitman's Wife’s Bodyguard" thrives on making fun of this entire international spy/hitman premise while utilizing the charm of three of Hollywood’s most beloved stars: Hayek, Jackson, and Reynolds. All are immensely gifted at taking farce to a whole new level, one laden with four-letter words that make for a “mouth in need of an exorcism,” mixed with immense physicality that makes Hayek look like an Avenger from the MCU, and witty dialogue that sounds more improvised than scripted.

Reynolds proves yet again why he thrives in satirical action-thriller flicks with the same command and comedic bravado that has given long-standing careers to the likes of Will Ferrell , Adam Sandler , and Ben Stiller . Jackson is an unsung cinematic legend whose ownership of cursing to the point of making it sound like a completely different language laced with a little sugar and spice is always entertaining regardless of what film and genre he's in. However, the real treat is watching an on-screen reunion between Banderas and Hayek. After more than 20 years, their chemistry is still just as palpable and thrilling as in Robert Rodriguez's breakthrough " Desperado ." I could have just had the whole film revolve around their infused storyline.

Hayek’s no-nonsense attitude in real-life melts into Sonia, making her a woman on-screen that is no one’s damsel in distress. Her ability to hold her own with the boys, kicking butt and taking names in fight scenes, leaves you wanting more every time. The extra added twist of having Morgan Freeman as Bryce’s dad (an award-winning bodyguard in his own right) be simultaneously dismissive with a fatherly vibe is also hysterical. There are also a few clever nods back to the original with the pair being surrounded by nuns, Sonia’s use of the word ‘cucaracha’ referring to Darius, bullets flying every two seconds, and the Lionel Richie hit "Hello" as the theme song for the hitman and his wife.

Directed by Patrick Hughes , this comic book-energy spy adventure, gorgeously captured by cinematographer Terry Stacey and keenly scripted with barbed dialogue from Tom O’Connor, Brandon Murphy , and Phillip Murphy, is heavy on blood, guts, action, and star power. It really is time for a summer movie season again.

Available in theaters on June 16.

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Film Credits

Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard (2021)

Rated R for strong bloody violence throughout, pervasive language, and some sexual content.

116 minutes

Ryan Reynolds as Michael Bryce

Samuel L. Jackson as Darius Kincaid

Salma Hayek as Sonia Kincaid

Antonio Banderas as Aristotle Papadopolous

Morgan Freeman as Senior

Frank Grillo as Interpol Agent

Richard E. Grant as Seifert

Patrick Hughes

Writer (story)

Tom O'Connor
Brandon Murphy
Philip Murphy

Cinematographer

Terry Stacey
Michael J. Duthie
Jack Hutchings
Atli Orvarsson

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DVD & Streaming

The Hitman’s Bodyguard

Action/Adventure , Comedy

Content Caution

In Theaters

August 18, 2017
Ryan Reynolds as Michael Bryce; Samuel L. Jackson as Darius Kincaid; Gary Oldman as Vladislav Dukhovich; Salma Hayek as Sonia Kincaid; Elodie Yung as Amelia Roussel; Yuri Kolokolnikov as Ivan

Home Release Date

November 21, 2017
Patrick Hughes

Distributor

Movie review.

Michael Bryce is a by-the-book kind of guy. He’s efficient, dedicated and detail oriented. He is, in fact, incredibly skilled at his personal security services job and everything it entails.

That’s what made his first big failure a few years back so devastating. He had plotted out every conceivable detail as a heavily armed security escort for a top Japanese official: every step, every turn, every stop, every angle.

In spite of those precautions and a support squad of dozens of men and vehicles, that wealthy employer was shot just before his plane left the ground. And, in a blink, Michael’s triple-A career spiraled down in a smoking heap.

In fact, his whole life crashed and burned.

Now he’s a laughing stock in the security community. His girlfriend bailed on him. And he’s stuck protecting coked-up, fourth-tier businessmen and money-laundering bankers. Oh, and he drives a beat up Ford Focus that smells like, well, the wrong end of the drug mule who blew up in his back seat.

If that isn’t a rosy enough picture, he just got a call from Amelia—that beautiful Interpol agent who used to share his bed before she bailed on him and ground his heart to tartar—and she needs a favor. If Michael had the fortitude and dexterity at this moment to punch himself in the face ’til unconscious, he would do so. But instead he goes to meet Amelia.

It seems Interpol made a deal with an incarcerated killer to testify against a genocidal Russian despot named Vladislav Dukhovich. But while Amelia’s group was transporting the assassin, it became clear that there was a mole somewhere in her agency: Her whole team is dead. And now she can only trust Michael to help finish the transport.

Oh, and that killer’s name? None other than the mercilessly murderous Darius Kincaid, a maniac who’s already tried to kill Michael 27, no, 28 times in the past.

So, not only is every aspect of Michael’s life going down the drain, now he’s been recruited to rescue a man who barely failed at killing him, by a former lover who callously rejected him.

Then again, no one ever promised Michael that being a bodyguard would be the most fulfilling career … even if it is easily among the most dangerous.

Positive Elements

The Hitman’s Bodyguard centers around several characters who regularly kill a whole lot of people. Not much positivity there, obviously. But amid that carnage, Michael and Kincaid talk at length about the need for love in one’s life. “What do you have if you don’t have love?” the hitman asks Michael. In fact, Kincaid’s respect and complete adoration of his wife, Sonia, drives him to do whatever it takes to guarantee her safety. And Michael, for his part, does his job well, putting his life on the line to protect Kincaid.

Spiritual Elements

Kincaid glowingly recounts his first impression of his soon-to-be wife, so much so that Michael asks, “Where’d you guys meet, Christian Mingle?”

Kincaid recalls seeing a man kill his father, a pastor, and leaving his body on the church altar. Kincaid quips, “The Bible says that revenge should be left to God, but I wasn’t prepared to wait that long.” Someone tells Kincaid, “There’s no atonement for a man like you.”

Michael and Kincaid hitch a ride with a van full of nuns. We see an image of Jesus painted on the front of that van.

Sexual Content

While working their way through Amsterdam, Michael and Kincaid end up in that city’s infamous red light district. The camera catches sight of women in skimpy outfits and barely there underwear. Sonia, for her part, often wears low-cut tops, and the camera ogles her figure. Kincaid and Sonia dance and kiss.

We see Amelia, who’s apparently naked, covered by a sheet in bed. In a flashback, Michael and Amelia begin kissing passionately during a violent shootout. Thugs drag Michael to the basement of a brothel where we hear people moaning in another room. A car wash sports pictures of bikini-clad women.

Violent Content

This is a film of action, destruction and death. And we see abundant amounts of each. Speeding vehicles catapult, crash, flip and smash through scenery. Explosions abound, the biggest eruption cratering half a building. We witness gun fights galore, involving both small- and large-caliber weapons.

People run and leap, breaking bones and shooting others (in the head, throat and chest) as they go. Those scenes feature choreographed, almost dance-like detail of the swing-duck-bash-shoot-snap death-dealing. Blood splashes windows and walls and gushes out of open wounds. A long-distance sniper unleashes graphic, fatal headshots upon unsuspecting victims.

A man gets kicked off a rooftop, and the camera watches as he plunges down and slams fatally into a car’s roof below. Someone gets tortured by painful-looking electric shocks. Men are crushed and run over. A man has a pen jammed into his hand. Someone is set on fire in a bar fight. And after being shot in the leg, a man probes around in the wound and pulls out the bullet with forceps.

Sonia and Amelia are involved in fighting, too, though they square off against much larger men. Both persevere and come out victorious, but not before they’ve been severely beaten themselves. These women also batter baddies with kicks and punches. Sonia stabs two different guys in the armpit and the jugular with the jagged neck of a broken bottle.

Crude or Profane Language

We hear about 100 f-words, with roughly half of those being paired with “mother.” The s-word pops up around 35 times along with multiple uses each of “a–,” “h–” and “b–ch.” God’s and Jesus’ names are frequently profaned (including three times when God’s name is combined with “d–n” and once when Jesus’ name is linked to an f-word). Crude references are made to male and female genitalia. Numerous vulgarities are also spit out in Spanish, some of which translated and some not. We also see a crude hand gesture.

Drug and Alcohol Content

A frantic man pushes several pills strewn on a tabletop into his mouth. While watching him, Michael wonders, “Is it too much cocaine, or not enough?” Michael downs shots at a bar (where other patrons imbibe as well.) Kincaid swigs from a metal flask. Several women drink champagne.

Other Negative Elements

An authority figure betrays his subordinates—sending them to their deaths. A down-and-out Michael urinates into an empty juice bottle while waiting in his car. We hear gas gags and racially tinged humor. Michael and Kincaid steal cars, motorcycles and a boat.

The Hitman’s Bodyguard is a new kind of modern hybrid actioner: the sort that strenuously stirs witty characters into precisely choreographed mayhem while trumpeting the foulest of f-bomb riddled dialogue. (Think Deadpool , only with hired assassins, Russian thugs and nobody in spandex.) And it’s becoming a moviemaking trend that we’re seeing more and more of these days. ( Atomic Blonde is another recent example.)

The plot here is dramatically shaped such that viewers are invited to kinda sorta like the diametrically opposed death dealers at the story’s core. For, in a way, both of these characters hold to a rationalized rectitude for their killing. As such, the movie’s “I only slaughter those who deserve it” ethos appeals to viewers’ baser instincts, to their desire for revenge and bloody justice.

Surprisingly, both main characters recognize the rewards and healing power of finding someone to love in our tumultuous, angry, violent world. And on top of that, actors Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson layer on their patented likeable-guy charm in big dollops.

The problem, of course, is the above-mentioned obscene nastiness. It is, without question, an integral part of this movie. In fact, The Hitman’s Bodyguard burrows down into the bog of its hard-R rating within moments of the opening title screen. And it wallows there for the next two hours like a pig stuck in the cinematic muck.

After spending more than two decades touring, directing, writing and producing for Christian theater and radio (most recently for Adventures in Odyssey, which he still contributes to), Bob joined the Plugged In staff to help us focus more heavily on video games. He is also one of our primary movie reviewers.

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Mamma Mia 3's Meryl Streep Problem Was Already Solved In Here We Go Again

Vin diesel teases fast 11 will include key brian car in bts video, hollywood's 12 live-action anime adaptations, ranked worst to best, the hitman's bodyguard is a mediocre action flick elevated by the talent and comedic chemistry of samuel l. jackson and ryan reynolds..

Michael Bryce (Ryan Reynolds) is a triple A rated executive protection agent with a loving girlfriend, luxurious house, and Jaguar all his own - until one of his clients is killed while under his protection. Two years later, Michael has lost the girlfriend, the house, and the car, as well as that triple A rating he was so proud of. Instead, he's resorted to protecting anyone who will hire him. Darius Kincaid (Samuel L. Jackson), meanwhile, is a professional hitman who made a mistake and landed in Interpol's custody - one for them to offer him a deal to protect his wife, Sonia (Salma Hayek), in return for testimony against the President of Belarus, the notorious dictator Vladislav Dukhovich (Gary Oldman).

However, Dukhovich's reach extends well across Europe and when Interpol is compromised, Michael's ex-girlfriend, Interpol agent Amelia Roussel (Élodie Yung), ropes him into protecting Darius Kincaid and escorting the hitman to the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands to testify. Unfortunately, Michael and Darius have a history - all of it violent - and it's just as likely they'll kill each other as evade Dukhovich's men. With a deadline hovering over their heads to appear in court and an adversarial dynamic between them, Michael and Darius must try to work together to survive and reach The Hague in time.

The Hitman's Bodyguard is helmed by Australian director Patrick Hughes, who's best known for 2014's The Expendables 3 , from a script by Tom O'Connor, whose only other writing credit is the Bruce Willis-led action flick Fire with Fire . The Hitman's Bodyguard is an action comedy that works as a vehicle for its stars to display their talents in both arenas. A prolific Hollywood veteran, Samuel L. Jackson has starred in all manner of films, but is perhaps most well known for bringing levity to what could otherwise be overly serious action movies. Ryan Reynolds, meanwhile, has stuck mainly to various types of comedy - whether they lean more toward romance or action - but particularly hit his stride with the R-rated action and comedy in Deadpool . The Hitman's Bodyguard is a mediocre action flick elevated by the talent and comedic chemistry of Samuel L. Jackson and Ryan Reynolds.

In terms of the film's action, The Hitman's Bodyguard is rather run of the mill. While there are some interesting distinctions between the fighting styles of Michael and Darius - the bodyguard is focused on protection and stealth, whereas the hitman has a flashy and deadly style - these differences are heavy-handedly brought up between the characters to give them something else to bicker about. The movie's larger action set pieces include various car, motorcycle, and boat chases utilizing the European setting of the film, but aren't innovative enough so as to be distinguishable from other Europe-set action films. They're serviceable on their own, but work better when used to develop or highlight aspects of the two main characters.

In fact, it's the odd couple dynamic between Michael and Darius that gets the most laughs and brings the only real heart to the film. Both Reynolds and Jackson have proven many times before that they can excel in action and comedy, so it comes as no surprise that both actors are able to bring exactly what's needed to their respective roles. Reynolds perfectly plays the straight-laced, rule-following bodyguard as the straight man to Jackson's wild and free-wheeling hitman with a moral code. Jackson's Darius brings just as much heart as humor to the film, with the venerable actor able to give dimension to his character. Reynolds is slightly less successful in doing so with Michael - though that's largely due to the limits of the script - but he offers a compelling performance. Still, Reynolds and Jackson bounce off each other well, and make for an especially comedic pairing when both performers play to their strengths. While The Hitman's Bodyguard attempts to dive deeper into the dichotomy between the natures of Michael and Darius by posing the question of who's the good guy between the two of them, the film doesn't reach a satisfactory conclusion on the matter - again, due to the script.

Beyond the core duo, however, the supporting cast of The Hitman's Bodyguard are made up of one-dimensional stock characters. Dukhovich is a flat villain, with all the cruelness expected of a genocidal dictator on trial in an international court - the character is so one dimensional the film doesn't even take the time to explain what exact crimes he stands accused of. Oldman brings as much gravitas to the role as possible for a villain who largely operates as a puppetmaster pulling the strings to keep the story moving forward. As for the two love interests of the main characters, Sonia and Amelia largely exist to be the focus of their respective boyfriend's love. For Sonia, she's the feisty badass who can go toe-to-toe with Darius, while Amelia has somewhat more dimension insofar as her relationship with Michael is complicated by their different professions. Still, Sonia and Ameila are half-hearted attempts at developed female characters who, thanks to the powerhouse actresses portraying them, could have lead the film on their own, but are instead relegated to the sidelines.

As is likely apparent, The Hitman's Bodyguard is weakest when it comes to the film's script. O'Connor lays the groundwork for some compelling and interesting ideas to be explored in the movie, only for those ideas to take a back seat to the action, the humor, the comedy beats of Michael and Darius, the characters' love lives, and their own adversarial relationship. Any attempts to put a new spin on classic action comedy tropes are negated by the film playing straight into many of those tropes, especially in the third act. While that makes The Hitman's Bodyguard a fairly standard action comedy on its own, hitting all the major necessary beats to keep viewers entertained, it's a routine and unsurprising ride. Perhaps the biggest surprises of The Hitman's Bodyguard come from cinematographer Jules O'Loughlin, who experiments with style and color during certain flashback sequences - though these scenes largely get lost in the bigger action set pieces of the film.

So, with writer O'Connor and director Hughes creating the sketch of an entertaining action comedy in The Hitman's Bodyguard , it's left to Reynolds and Jackson to bring the film to life - and thankfully they do. The movie is entertaining as summer popcorn viewing, but fails to innovate in any real way beyond finally casting Reynolds and Jackson in a film together. Their odd couple dynamic is the core of the film, for better and for worse, making for an especially fun duo at the expense of the story and supporting characters. To be sure, The Hitman's Bodyguard is a fun ride for fans of action comedies and/or Reynolds and Jackson, but both actors have funnier, more original films under their belts.

The Hitman's Bodyguard is now playing in U.S. theaters. It runs 118 minutes and is rated R for strong violence and language throughout.

Let us know what you thought of the film in the comments section!

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The Hitman’s Bodyguard review – Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L Jackson sent to... Coventry?

This medium-octane buddy movie has the distinction of featuring a certain West Midlands city centre, but is too slow to turn into the romp promised

T his fumbled buddy movie throwback touts some only-here-for-the-money stars as compensation for leaden pacing and a futzing, bum-obsessed script. Any remaining life in its tired set-up – security operative Ryan Reynolds drags assassin Samuel L Jackson to The Hague to testify against a Belarusian war criminal (Gary Oldman, inevitably) – is soon stifled by pointless flashbacks and detours, and a suicidally phlegmy palette.

It earns the distinction of being the first shoot-’em-up to reroute its leads via Coventry city centre, but that’s the problem: only belatedly, with its medium-octane chases around Amsterdam, does this dopey endeavour become the freewheeling romp the trailers promised. For an action-comedy, its timing is lousy.

Action and adventure films
Ryan Reynolds
Samuel L Jackson
Gary Oldman
Salma Hayek

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10 Best Ryan Reynolds Movies, Ranked

Ryan Reynolds is one of the most beloved actors in Hollywood, and since his rise to fame, he's starred in a variety of successful films.

Endless charisma used to be the defining characteristic of actors in the golden age of Hollywood, and few performers alive today better personify that trait than the Canadian jokester Ryan Reynolds . It might have taken this Vancouver-born funny man several years to leave his mark on the industry, but today, he's arguably entertainment's most in-demand star.

After spending the early part of his career on television and earning recognition for his work on series like Two Guys, A Girl, and a Pizza Place , Reynolds became a promising comedic talent following his breakthrough role in National Lampoon's Van Wilder . Since then, he's become a bonafide superhero and a rom-com icon, and he has voiced numerous animated characters. With 2024 set to be the biggest year of his career yet, thanks to the release of Deadpool & Wolverine and If , it's the perfect time to look back over his storied career.

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10 the hitman's bodyguard took advantage of what ryan reynolds does best.

This quintessential "odd-couple" movie, which pairs Ryan Reynolds with Samuel L. Jackson as bodyguard Michael Bryce and hitman Darius Kincaid , respectively, was sold on the concept of its lead stars' chemistry. In that way, The Hitman's Bodyguard delivers. It's clear that Reynolds and Jackson are having a ball during the movie, and that infectious energy is catching.

Combine the laughs delivered by Reynolds and Jackson with numerous top-flight action sequences, and director Patrick Hughes turned The Hitman's Bodyguard into a better film than its otherwise trope-riddled script had any right to be. This movie rode the charisma levels of its two main stars to nearly $200 million at the box office, resulting in a sequel that, while decent, will, needless to say, not be on this list.

The Hitman's Bodyguard

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9 Just Friends Found the Right Chemistry

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A quick perusal of Ryan Reynold's filmography will reveal that a substantial portion is dedicated to romantic comedies, the funniest and most charming of which is Just Friends . Co-starring Anna Faris and Amy Smart, Just Friends chronicles Reynold's return to his hometown for the holidays after transforming from an overweight afterthought into a handsome and well-respected music producer. Now, he can finally impress the girl of his dreams, who friend-zoned him in high school.

What makes Just Friends work better than most of Ryan Reynold's romantic comedies is that this one has bite. Reynolds is as charming as ever, but the real star is Anna Faris, whose behavior as a Jessica Simpson-like rock star is off the wall and unhinged. More often than not, Reynold's other works in the genre leaned heavily on the romantic side of the equation, but this one balances the scales out by legitimately being funny and charming.

8 Waiting... Didn't Have to Wait Long to Become a Cult Hit

Waiting... is a gross-out comedy from early in Ryan Reynold's film career. Released as it was in the 2000s, the film is often more concerned with making its audience uncomfortable than making them laugh, but to its credit, it's wildly effective at achieving that goal. After all, some seriously gross things can happen when working at a restaurant, and not all involve food. Waiting pulls no punches to show how the unheralded veterans of the food service industry contend with getting payback against unruly customers.

Despite receiving top billing in Waiting ..., Ryan Reynold's Monty isn't the star. Instead, the film is more of an ensemble piece that sees the heavy lifting carried equally by Justin Long, John Francis Daley, and Anna Farris, who stars yet again alongside Reynolds. Essentially, Clerks for the restaurant industry, Waiting... is a fun film to go back and rediscover, especially for anyone who has ever had the misfortune of dealing with miserable patrons.

7 Self/less Offered Reynolds the Chance to Work With an Auteur

Ryan Reynold's film career has been about as mainstream as it comes. He's seldom worked on small independent projects and hasn't worked with many directors known for their unique artistic vision. That changed when he signed to star in Tarsem Singh's Self/less . Singh is the filmmaker behind visually audacious films like The Cell and The Fall , and while he didn't bring as much of that creative vision to this film, Self/less is still a movie unlike any other Reynolds has ever made.

Self/less tells the story of a wealthy real estate mogul named Damian, played by the living legend Ben Kingsley, whose consciousness is swapped into that of a younger man's body, played by Ryan Reynolds. Through flashbacks that show Reynold's character before the transformation, Self/less allows Reynolds to embody two characters simultaneously, which he tackles with relish. Self/less isn't quite as good as it should have been, considering its pedigree, and its novel premise, unfortunately, devolves into a much more generic action movie. However, it's still an exciting outlier in Reynold's filmography that is worth checking out.

6 The Change-Up Was an Entertaining Change of Pace

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The Change-Up is a broad comedy done right. Starring Ryan Reynolds and Jason Bateman, this body-swap comedy comes off as a much more extreme R-rated version of Freaky Friday in which Bateman plays a lawyer and family man who wakes up in the body of his womanizing slacker friend played by Reynolds. The crux of this movie comes in seeing both men play against type once the switch takes place.

Opinions on The Change-Up will differ wildly depending upon the audience's taste for juvenile humor, but in a day and age when comedy films are a dying breed, returning to experience The Change-Up now feels like a refreshing bit of cool air. Typical of most Ryan Reynold's comedies, there's a romantic subplot involving a legal associate played by Olivia Munn. Still, the romance never gets in the way of the jokes, which come fast and furious.

5 Free Guy Brought the Fun of Gaming to the Movies

Essentially Deadpool, but for the entire family, Free Guy is a ruckus action comedy that sees Ryan Reynolds deliver a fun performance in a wildly imaginative environment as a non-playable character living in a Grand Theft Auto -style open world . The film works thanks in large part to its sweet self-referential humor and proves that Ryan Reynolds can launch a brand new IP solely on the strength of his star power.

Co-starring Jodie Comer as the real-world player that broadens Ryan Reynold's horizons and Taika Waititi as the film's antagonist, Free Guy is a free-wheeling and entertaining action movie nearly as funny as it is exciting. Audiences will come to the film for the familiarity of the fish-out-of-water experience and stick around for how the film subverts those expectations while leaving plenty of room for an emotional moment or two.

4 Buried Proved Ryan Reynolds Offers More Than Just Laughs

A movie that rips Ryan Reynolds away from other actors and shoves him in a box for its entire runtime might not sound like it should work, but Buried might be the best acting performance of Reynolds' career. One of the few creative risks Reynolds has ever attempted paid off with this film, which tells the story of an American truck driver in Iraq who has been kidnapped and buried alive in a coffin with little more than a lighter, some glow sticks, a pen, and a cell phone.

Buried would have been a complete disaster if Ryan Reynolds had not risen to the occasion. Here, he delivers a frantic, nerve-shattering performance as a man desperate to extricate himself from a life-and-death situation playing out in real-time.

Paul is a U.S. truck driver working in Iraq. After an attack by a group of Iraqis, he wakes to find he is buried alive inside a coffin. With only a lighter and a cell phone, it's a race against time to escape this claustrophobic death trap.

3 Deadpool 2 Is Excess at it's Most Effective

Deadpool 2 wasn't quite the jolt-to-the-arm that the first film was, but it's still a deliriously fun movie that's somehow even crasser and more violent than the original. By this point, audiences already knew that Reynolds is pitch-perfect as the Merc with the Mouth, the wise-cracking, unkillable assassin Wade Wilson, and so everything else about this sequel was bigger, broader, and bolder.

Anyone who wasn't impressed by the original Deadpool should probably not even bother with the sequel, but everyone else will no doubt be pulled in right from the very beginning thanks to the film's hilarious opening featuring a perfectly placed needle-drop in the form of a Celine Dion track over the opening credits. Ultimately, Deadpool 2 was just more of everything. More violence, more meta, more celebrity cameos , and more Reynolds. Now bring on Deadpool and Wolverine .

Foul-mouthed mutant mercenary Wade Wilson (a.k.a. Deadpool) assembles a team of fellow mutant rogues to protect a young boy with supernatural abilities from the brutal, time-traveling cyborg Cable.

2 National Lampoon's Van Wilder Is the Reason Fans Know Ryan Reynolds's Name

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Deadpool might have turned Ryan Reynolds into a superstar, but he would never have even made it to that point if it hadn't been for his breakout film, National Lampoon's Van Wilder . This wildly offensive comedy successfully allowed Reynolds to transition from the small screen to the big one by playing a lazy college student who'd rather spend a decade at a school than ever put in the work necessary to graduate.

Loosely based on comedian Bert Kreischer's real life , National Lampoon's Van Wilder aligns with the late '90s and early aughts fascination with American Pie -inspired debauchery, including a whole mess of bodily fluids being flung around recklessly. Co-starring Tara Reid and Kal Penn, Van Wilder isn't brought up much these days, perhaps because its sequel and prequel were both significant misses. However, anyone who wants to go back and discover the film that put Ryan Reynolds on the Hollywood map won't be disappointed. At worst, they won't look at pastries the same way ever again.

1 Deadpool Turned Ryan Reynolds Into One of Hollywood's Biggest Stars

It might have taken him over a decade to find, but Deadpool finally gave Ryan Reynolds the role he was born to play. Seven years earlier, Reynolds had played Wade Wilson for the first time in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, but the less said about that movie, the better. In The Merc with the Mouth's first solo film, Reynolds was allowed to play Deadpool the way he was always meant to be portrayed: fast-talking, lewd, and violent.

All the years Ryan Reynolds spent trying to get Deadpool off the ground paid off handsomely by turning him into one of Hollywood's biggest stars . Widely regarded as one of the best superhero films in a market now inundated with endless amounts of them, Deadpool sets itself apart from the pack by constantly breaking the fourth wall and being more violent and vulgar than any other picture in the genre typically dares to be. Reynolds is now so associated with this role that it's hard to imagine he'll ever have a character (or movie) as successful as this one.

A wisecracking mercenary gets experimented on and becomes immortal yet hideously scarred, and sets out to track down the man who ruined his looks.

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As Trump Trial Nears Its End, the Law May Give Prosecutors an Edge

The former president’s defense appeared to chip away at Michael Cohen’s credibility, but legal experts said the case is still the prosecution’s to lose.

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Donald J. Trump speaking while standing behind metal barricades outside a building, with a man in a suit beside him.

By Ben Protess and Jonah E. Bromwich

Over the course of a monthlong criminal trial, the evidence against Donald J. Trump has piled up.

A recording of his voice directing a fixer to pay in cash. Phone calls, text messages, emails and a photograph that illustrate the case against him. And a parade of 18 witnesses who together told the prosecution’s story: that Mr. Trump orchestrated a conspiracy to suppress sex scandals during the 2016 election, and after winning, sought to bury a porn star’s story for good.

But the 19th and final witness of their case — the only one to directly link Mr. Trump to the 34 business records he is charged with falsifying — is Michael D. Cohen. And for prosecutors, he was always high-reward, high-risk. Though Mr. Cohen got off to a strong start, Mr. Trump’s lawyer eventually hammered his credibility, highlighting his criminal record and painting him as a serial liar bent on taking down the former president.

It was the most significant momentum swing of the first criminal trial of an American president — and with Mr. Cohen’s star turn on the stand poised to conclude on Monday, the prosecution’s case would seem to hang in the balance. Mr. Trump’s legal team argues that it is preposterous to have built a case that could hinge on Mr. Cohen’s credibility.

But as the trial enters its final stage and the focus shifts from the lawyers at the lectern to the 12 silent New Yorkers who will determine Mr. Trump’s fate, several legal experts say the case remains the prosecution’s to lose. Between the reams of circumstantial evidence and some very favorable laws underpinning the charges, the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, has retained inherent advantages.

And so, whatever the jurors think of Mr. Cohen — truth-teller, fabulist or something in between — the prosecution did not need them to believe his every word.

Marc F. Scholl, who served in the district attorney’s office for nearly four decades and worked on dozens of cases that included the false records charge, said prosecutors have checked all the legal boxes.

“If the jury chooses to believe the government’s evidence, then a conviction is warranted,” he said, though he noted Mr. Cohen, with all his baggage, “remains the linchpin” of the case. “The jury does not have to believe all of what Cohen has to say, but they have to believe enough of it.”

A felon who self-identified as Mr. Trump’s former “thug,” Mr. Cohen led jurors on a guided tour of the shady dealings that are the crux of the case. He told jurors that, at his boss’s behest, he paid off the porn star, Stormy Daniels, on the eve of the election, silencing her story of a sexual liaison with Mr. Trump. Once Mr. Trump was elected, he agreed to repay Mr. Cohen for the $130,000 hush-money deal and more.

To keep the cover-up alive, Mr. Cohen said, Mr. Trump’s company disguised the reimbursement as ordinary legal expenses that arose from a retainer agreement. And at a meeting in Trump Tower just weeks before he was sworn in, Mr. Trump signed off on the fakery, Mr. Cohen recounted from the stand.

“What, if anything, did Mr. Trump say at that time?” a prosecutor asked Mr. Cohen.

“He approved it,” Mr. Cohen replied, noting that Mr. Trump then added: “This is going to be one heck of a ride in D.C.”

Mr. Trump, who faces probation or up to four years in prison, is charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records, one for each purportedly bogus document: 11 checks to Mr. Cohen, 11 invoices submitted by Mr. Cohen and 12 entries in Mr. Trump’s ledger.

Mr. Cohen’s testimony that Mr. Trump “approved” the plan could give prosecutors what they need. It might not matter that he did not accuse Mr. Trump of personally falsifying the records or explicitly instructing anyone to do so. Under the New York law that Mr. Trump is charged with violating, prosecutors need only show that he “caused” his company to file false records.

The prosecution has another legal card to play: The law holds a defendant accountable even when he does not carry out the crime himself, so long as he “intentionally aids” it. The issue was highlighted during jury selection, when a prosecutor, Joshua Steinglass, asked prospective jurors whether they could accept the idea that a husband who hired a hitman to kill his wife was guilty of her murder. Many agreed they could.

And as a final way to buttress their case, prosecutors might invoke a 2016 appeals court decision upholding a conviction of a defendant who did not handle or approve the false records in question, ruling that it was “reasonably foreseeable” that his actions would have resulted in the filing of false records.

The case could hang on Justice Juan M. Merchan’s interpretation of these issues, the legal experts said. In the coming days, Justice Merchan — the judge overseeing the case — will distill the legalities into instructions for jurors that he will deliver after closing arguments as soon as this week. The instructions, the experts said, could support the prosecution’s view of the case.

“The judge’s instructions provide a road map to the jurors,” said Mr. Scholl, the former prosecutor, noting that “Trump does not have to be the one who says, ‘Make that record false.’”

But some jurors could arrive at the same conclusion that Mr. Trump’s supporters have pushed: that the roundabout nature of the charges do not justify the first felony conviction of a former president.

Felony counts of falsifying business records require prosecutors to show that a defendant sought to conceal a second crime. And in this case, the prosecutors have laid out that second crime in graphic detail, arguing that in 2015, Mr. Trump entered into a conspiracy with Mr. Cohen and the publisher of The National Enquirer, David Pecker, to conceal the sex scandals.

Mr. Pecker, the trial’s first witness, testified that he had agreed to suppress several damaging stories on Mr. Trump’s behalf as he ran for president, including a former Playboy model’s story of an affair.

Mr. Pecker told the jury that for $150,000, he bought and buried the model’s story. And on a surreptitious recording Mr. Cohen made on his phone, jurors heard Mr. Trump directing that they repay Mr. Pecker.

Other witnesses — including Hope Hicks, Mr. Trump’s former spokeswoman — underscored the threat that the stories posed to the campaign. She also testified that the candidate was in touch with both Mr. Pecker and Mr. Cohen as the campaign sought to contain the scandals, a recollection corroborated by phone records.

In closing arguments, the defense will likely cast those machinations as typical presidential political tactics. They are also expected to argue that Mr. Trump had nothing to do with the records at the heart of the case, which they have already characterized as the sort of back office paperwork that a president would never bother touching.

Yet jurors learned that Mr. Trump signed nine of the 11 checks himself. And prosecutors introduced a variety of other circumstantial evidence regarding the documentation: Mr. Trump’s former employees portrayed him as a micromanager who was detail-obsessed when it came to his own money and paid close attention to checks that came in and out of his office.

His own books emphasized that point. “Penny pinching?” he wrote in one of them. “You bet. I’m all for it.”

To directly link Mr. Trump to the false records, though, prosecutors called Mr. Cohen to the stand.

His story began a decade before the documents even existed. Composed and steady on the stand, he recounted his professional life as a New York tragedy in miniature: a man who met and then served his idol, only to be betrayed and imprisoned after the porn star payoff in October 2016, which could have been his proudest moment.

Three months after striking the deal with Ms. Daniels, Mr. Cohen said, he had a crucial meeting at Trump Tower. There, he said, Mr. Trump’s chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, explained how Mr. Trump would reimburse Mr. Cohen for the payoff. Mr. Weisselberg took notes, which prosecutors showed to the jury, and Mr. Cohen testified that Mr. Trump signed off on the specifics.

In one word of all-important testimony — a simple “yes” — Mr. Cohen confirmed that his former boss had known the records would falsely describe the repayments as legal expenses arising from a fictional legal “retainer.”

Mr. Cohen, who pleaded guilty in 2018 to a variety of federal crimes, including some related to the hush money, asserted that there was no retainer agreement and that he had not accrued any legal expenses.

“Was this invoice a false record?” a prosecutor, Susan Hoffinger, asked Mr. Cohen on Tuesday.

“Yes, ma’am,” he confirmed, and added that the check stubs were false as well. Asked the purpose of the checks, he explained that in part they represented “the reimbursement to me for the hush-money fee.”

It was exactly what prosecutors hoped jurors would hear. But now, after two days of cross-examination, and more to come on Monday, they must hold on and hope the jury will believe it.

Under cross-examination, a lawyer for Mr. Trump, Todd Blanche, did all he could to call Mr. Cohen’s credibility into doubt. He highlighted lies the former fixer had told while under oath in the past, insisting that he had lied again when answering questions from prosecutors in the current trial.

In a particularly tense line of questioning, Mr. Blanche sought to impeach Mr. Cohen’s earlier testimony that he had spoken to Mr. Trump in October 2016 about the payment to Ms. Daniels. To reach Mr. Trump, Mr. Cohen testified, he called the candidate’s bodyguard, Keith Schiller.

But Mr. Blanche, noting that Mr. Cohen had been the target of a harassment campaign from a teenager around the same time, proposed an alternate theory. He described text messages that suggested the fixer was calling Mr. Schiller to complain that he was being bullied by a 14-year-old prank caller — and not to speak to Mr. Trump about the payment.

“You did not talk to President Trump on that night, you talked to Keith Schiller,” Mr. Blanche said, raising his voice and his index finger. “You can admit it.”

But Mr. Cohen remained composed and held firm.

“No, sir, I can’t,” he responded.

William K. Rashbaum contributed reporting.

Ben Protess is an investigative reporter at The Times, writing about public corruption. He has been covering the various criminal investigations into former President Trump and his allies. More about Ben Protess

Jonah E. Bromwich covers criminal justice in New York, with a focus on the Manhattan district attorney’s office and state criminal courts in Manhattan. More about Jonah E. Bromwich

Our Coverage of the Trump Hush-Money Trial

News and Analysis

As Donald Trump’s criminal trial enters its final stage, several legal experts say the case remains the prosecution’s to lose .

Michael Cohen, Trump’s one-time fixer and the key witness in the trial, faced hours of bruising questions from a defense lawyer who sought to destroy his credibility with jurors.

The trial has underscored Trump’s favored tactics and behavior over the decades — using allies as bullies, obsessing over the press, placing a premium on beauty and encouraging shows of loyalty.

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Film Review: ‘The Hitman’s Bodyguard’

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Reviewed at RealD screening room, Los Angeles, Aug. 9, 2017. MPAA Rating: R. Running time: 118 MIN.

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