Jackson, Reynolds work well as team

The summer — as a movie season at least — is effectively over.

Perhaps for that reason, “The Hitman’s Bodyguard” seems a bit better than it really is.

The pleasing action movie aspires to be more but doesn’t quite achieve its intention.

Still, the film is better than routine, and even has a way of topping itself. If, after about 80 minutes, you think it’s giving its all, it isn't. The movie catches a second wind, becoming even more satisfying.

The movie also provides viewers a chance to appreciate Samuel L. Jackson in something close to his purest form. The actor adds a menacing joviality to it and gives viewers the comfort of being in on his particular comic wavelength.

"The Hitman’s Bodyguard" pairs Jackson with Ryan Reynolds. Directed by Patrick Hughes.

R (for strong violence and language throughout) 1:58 at the Columbus 10 at Westpointe, Crosswoods, Dublin Village 18, Easton 30, Georgesville Square 16, Grove City 14, Lennox 24, Movies 16 Gahanna, Movies 11 at Mill Run, Pickerington, Polaris 18 and River Valley theaters

Sprinkled throughout are moments suggesting an attempt — by Tom O’Connor’s screenplay and Patrick Hughes’ direction — to turn the movie into a buddy action-comedy. But O’Connor and Hughes aren’t sure whether they’re making a buddy action-comedy or lampooning the genre, so the film gets stuck in between. The result is less troubling than it sounds, though, because Reynolds and Jackson are a good team.

Reynolds plays Bryce, a former CIA agent who offers first-class protection for corporate clients who think their lives are in danger. Early on, we meet him in a flashback, giving the deluxe treatment to a Japanese businessman. He and his team escort the man to the tarmac to see that he safely boards his jet. But just as they are congratulating themselves, the businessman is fatally shot through a plane window.

Two years later, Bryce needs a shave, his love life is nonexistent and his once top-flight business is a shadow of itself — until he gets a call from his estranged ex-girlfriend, an Interpol agent played by French actress Elodie Yung: She needs him to escort a hit man (Jackson) to The Hague, where he is to testify against a war criminal (Gary Oldman).

The catch: Many heavily armed criminals and corrupt Interpol agents don’t want him to ever testify.

The last time somebody made this movie, it was called “Hot Pursuit” (with Reese Witherspoon and Sofia Vergara). The road-trip comedy centered on a pair of opposites whose slowly blossoming friendship is continually interrupted by violent interludes.

That movie collapsed in discord, but "The Hitman’s Bodyguard" finds a tonal universe in which the violence and the comedy aren't in conflict. Then again, perhaps Jackson's presence in the film assured as much.

Also worth noting: The car chases in “The Hitman’s Bodyguard” aren’t boring. Given the many chases that have preceded these, that’s something of a miracle.