Scene: He Ruined My Life from the Hitman’s Bodyguard.

Summary. In this scene, Michael Bryce (played by Ryan Reynolds) walks up to a kiosk bar in the streets of the Netherlands where he begins to talk to the bartender about how Darius Kincaid (played by Samuel L. Jackson) single handedly ruined his life. Meanwhile, Kincaid, who Bryce considers his nemesis and has been tasked to protect, sneaks out of the apartment he was hiding in and is immediately spotted by the “bad guys” who begin to shoot at him. A massive shootout then erupts in the background while Bryce continues to calmly drink at the little bar. Bullets are flying, cars are crashing, people are running, and bad guys are dying, all while Michael Bryce complains about how he used to be a triple A rated protection agent. He then also goes in on some more personal attacks such as how Kincaid (and presumably Samuel L. Jackson too) single handedly ruined the word motherf***er. He finally caves in and after drinking a sizable amount of alcohol, resolves to go rescue Kincaid in what of course is an epic fashion.

More In-depth Analysis::
The scene begins with a staging shot from a side view showing Reynolds and the bartender. There is old music playing that is calm while someber at the same time in the background throughout the whole scene only furthering the juxtaposition. The light is really bright and the background is somewhat fuzzy to depict Amsterdam as a happy safe place. Then a conversation begins between Reynolds and the bartender. They are both center-frame. He starts to complain how prepared he was and how he had every possible kill shot and angle covered. The camera then pans over to a doorway somewhere behind Reynolds and Jackson can be seen sneaking out and into the street. Then, the camera snaps back to Reynolds who is still complaining. Then to the bad guys, then to Jackson, then to the bad guys who start shooting, then to the same front view of Reynolds who is still complaining. Upon hearing the shots, he does nothing but say, “there he goes again” and raise his hands in frustrated disappointment. Meanwhile in the background, people start screaming and ducking from cover. Then comes an action sequence. The camera begins to shake and zoom in on a crashing car, then back and forth between Jackson and several bad guys all shooting at each other. Most of these shots are from about a 45 degree angle so you can see who is shooting and what is being shot at. Then, in the midst of the chaos, the camera snaps back to Reynolds who continues to complain completely unfazed by the action transpiring in the background. Cars are flying by and crashing. Bullets are flying, and the camera is cutting between these scenes to create a sense of chaos, which is then followed by a calm shot of reynolds complaining mocking Jackson by saying “I guess bullets are allergic to me… Motherf**ker.” Reynolds mocking Jackson while hell breaks loose in the background is rather comedic too. Finally, Reynolds breaks after one more comment reminiscing his triple A rating and after yelling “God Dammit” embarks on a mission to save jackson.

This scene sums up the whole plot of the movie. There is Reynolds, clean, prepared ,well meaning (at least relatively), and reluctant to work to save Jackson, and Jackson, who is the polar opposite. This scene juxtaposed the way both of them do things, but also instills confidence in the reader once you see them emerge victorious in the end. The filming is also excellent and only adds to the previous message. The calm, still, and collected scenes of Reynolds illustrate his lifestyle, which is then instantly juxtaposed with the fast paced, shakey, and spontaneous scenes of Jackson. Also, the juxtaposition is comedic, which only feeds the narrative of the movie and keeps the viewer interested (if action sequences weren’t enough).