After a nearly year-long wait, Richard Linklater’s darkly hilarious hitman dramedy, aptly titled Hit Man, is finally upon us and it’s phenomenal. Easily one of my favorites of the year and another masterpiece under Linklater’s belt whose filmography is littered with several already. The man has dropped another all-timer.
Hit Man is loosely based on a true story and adapted from a 2001 Texas Monthly article of the same name written by Skip Hollandsworth, who previously collaborated with Linklater on the screenplay of his 2011 black comedy, Bernie.
The film follows Gary Johnson (Glen Powell), a mild-mannered philosophy professor at the University of New Orleans who moonlights as a part-time staffer for the New Orleans Police Department. With the NOPD, Gary goes undercover as a hitman to assist the police in catching individuals looking for guns for hire. Gary’s life takes an unexpected turn when he breaks protocol to help Madison (Adria Arjona), a desperate woman trying to escape an abusive husband, ends up falling for her, and finds himself caught in an identity crisis, torn between his facade as a contract killer and his true self.
Hit Man is simultaneously a deconstruction and an amalgamation of hitman media of the last half century from Once Upon a Time in the West to In Bruges to HBO’s Barry. As someone who loves crime thrillers and specifically hitman movies (No Country for Old Men, my beloved), I loved this aspect of the movie. I went into the film blind and initially expected a straight up action comedy hitman movie, but it subverts expectations early on by telling us that the concept of hitmans are nothing more than fiction.
“You behave as if you are the person you want to be, and then pretty soon you might realize…that is you.” While I loved the meta-commentary on the concept of the hitman, Hit Man is at its core a movie about identity, the identity one crafts for themself and whether that identity can be changed. The theme of identity is contextualized through Gary Johnson, a man living double lives and how his dual-roles bleed into another and ultimately collide. The film raises thought-provoking questions about authenticity and one’s ability to change who they are. “Seize the identity you want for yourself!”
Glen Powell, who isn’t a new collaborator with Linklater, working with him previously in 2016 in Everybody Wants Some!!, the spiritual successor to Linklater’s classic stoner comedy, Dazed and Confused (1993), is a joy to watch in the film. Powell’s character, Gary Johnson, is a charming, nerdy average Joe who gushes about philosophy and birds, but at the flip of a switch can embody what Hollandsworth described as “evil incarnate, the remorseless giver of death.”
Powell plays both archetypes extremely well and this has got to be my favorite role from him, although maybe he’ll blow me away in a couple months in Twisters. Powell has been working consistently for over 20 years now, but flew under my radar until Top Gun: Maverick. Since then, I’ve loved seeing him pop up in movies and I’m delighted to see him in leading roles now. Also, I only learned after the credits started rolling that he co-wrote Hit Man‘s screenplay too!
Adria Arjona stars opposite Powell as Madison, and while I haven’t seen Arjona in much else, her performance here is quite commendable. Madison comes off timid, innocent, and unassuming at first, but proves herself to be much more than she lets on by the end. Arjona and Powell play off each other very well and their characters’ relationship is very cute and funny.
Hit Man is also supported by Austin Amelio, who plays the sleazy dirtbag brilliantly (his delivery of “what a bunch of cancel culture bullshit” killed me), as Jasper, and Retta (who I’ve loved since Parks and Recreation) and Sanjay Rao, as Claudette and Phil respectively, all police officers that Gary works with.
Hit Man does not by any means reinvent the wheel; in fact, it’s quite simplistic in its execution. However, it is a wholly original foray into the hitman genre. Flawlessly paced and very watchable, it’s a perfect throw-it-on movie. It’s a movie that I think is very likely going to become a comfort watch for me.
The movie’s ability to balance multiple genres like rom-com and crime thriller in singular scenes and go from cutesy date to the intricacies of murder in the span of seconds is incredible and so fun to watch. Richard Linklater has been one of my favorite directors for a while now and Hit Man has solidified his place as one of the greats. I loved everything about this.
HIt Man premiered at the Venice International Film Festival in 2023 and had a limited theatrical release on May 24th, 2024. It will premiere on Netflix on June 7th, 2024.
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