At age 66, Samuel L. Jackson is still the coolest *expletive deleted* in Hollywood. Fans of his work should have no problem filling in the proper curse word.

The "Pulp Fiction" actor has "Star Wars," Pixar and most of the Marvel Cinematic Universe on his resume. Already in two hit movies in 2015 ("Kingsman: The Secret Service" and "Avengers: Age of Ultron"), Jackson has a significant role in Quentin Tarantino's upcoming Western, "The Hateful Eight." Anytime Tarantino and Jackson work together, good things happen.

More than that, Jackson maintains an ultra-cool, if slightly intimidating image in the media, the best evidence being what he did to that poor TV reporter who confused him with Laurence Fishburne (YouTube!).

That image has helped Jackson stay on the A-list, even as he continues to appear in just about any movie offered to him. The less you know about "The Samaritan," "Reasonable Doubt," "Meeting Evil" and a dozen others, the better.

Jackson may phone in a "cool guy" performance from time to time, but he still deserves credit for trying different things in genre movies. In "Kingsman," he gave his villain a lisp and a weak stomach for violence - two traits that make the character's actions more surprising and frightening.

"Big Game," a high concept throwback to '90s action, is Jackson's latest tweak on his conventional image. He plays the president of the United States on the run from nutball terrorists in the woods of Finland after a missile shoots down Air Force One. The movie is now available on various VOD outlets, including iTunes, Amazon and the major cable providers.

Jackson as the president seems like the perfect time to play cool. Instead, Jackson goes the other way, playing a president who couldn't handle camping in the backyard of the White House, let alone the Finnish wilderness. Even the film's central villain (Ray Stevenson) formulates his entire evil plan because he can't stand serving under a weak Commander-in-Chief.

Luckily, the president gets help in the woods in the form of a 13-year-old boy (Onni Tommila), who is on a solo hunting mission to prove his manhood to his father. He's tougher than the president, but still not strong enough to pull back a bow and arrow.

The movie leads to some ridiculous action involving helicopters and Air Force One ejection seats, and the banter between Jackson and Tommila is reminiscent of buddy cop adventures from the '80s and '90s.

"Big Game" sneaks some sentiment into the B-movie nonsense too, as the two characters learn to trust each other through their shared feelings of inadequacy. Jackson doesn't phone anything in here, and the kid demonstrates his own awkward/engaging screen presence.

Before anyone takes such praise of "Big Game" too seriously, keep in mind one of these character moments involves the president telling the kid a story about how he peed his pants before the State of the Union. The movie is ridiculous, but at least it's sincere in its presentation.

Directed by Jalmari Helander (check out his bonkers horror debut, "Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale," featuring an evil Santa Claus), "Big Game" is slight but fun. Plug in Jean Claude Van Damme or Wesley Snipes as the president and it could have been a box office smash in 1992.

In 2015, it's probably a better use of $6.99 than paying for part of a ticket to see the new "Terminator." Plus there's Samuel L. Jackson purposefully playing uncool and still coming out of it pretty *expletive deleted* cool by the end. He's a good actor, not a miracle worker.

Tyler Wilson can be reached at twilson@cdapress.com.