It’s been about 10 years since Richard Linklater gave us Boyhood, which for me may not be my personal favorite of his films, but it is the one that certainly got the attention of the Academy Awards. Linklater is a director I’ve always been a fan of. It’s hard to really describe his filmography other than to say it is diverse, but at the heart of all his films they are about the characters. It’s no surprise that his new film Hit Man is once again a film about the characters and definitely has more heart than violence, even if the central character is supposed to be a contract killer. The film is loosely based on a true story and was written by Richard Linklater and Glen Powell, who also stars in the film, and my first reaction is this is immediately shooting to the top of my list of my favorite films I’ve seen this year. Though this film has some familiar tropes, I have to say it is a breath of fresh air. A film without CGI, it isn’t an established IP; it’s just a good story that is carried by great performances and was fun start to finish. The first impression I got from the film as the credits rolled is that it reminded me of the fun and cool crime films of the 90s. To be even more specific, this reminded me of Grosse Point Blank and Out of Sight if the films had a love child and for an extra splash of cool blended in Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, but some how it still manages to be its own thing.
Glen Powell plays Gary Johnson, who is a college professor in New Orleans. On the side he works with the police department as a simple tech guy … that is until he’s put in the position where he has to go undercover and pose as a hit man when the department’s “hit man” is put on a 120-day suspension. To everyone’s surprise it turns out Gary is really good at pretending to be a professional killer, and he is given the full-time gig for as long as the under cover agent, Jasper (Austin Amelio) is under suspension. Gary takes the new job seriously and starts to research the people who are wanting to hire him as a hit man, and he takes on a persona he feels best suits the hit man they are looking for. We get to see Gary take on a wide variety of looks and personalities, and if this was all the film was I would have been happy, but things take a bit of turn when Gary is confronted by Madison (Adria Arjona), a woman looking for someone to kill her husband. The identity Gary uses with Madison is Ron, and under this persona Gary seems to find this untapped confidence and manages to convince Madison to not go through with hiring him for the hit. While this may seem like a bust for the undercover unit, Gary seems to enjoy acting like Ron, and he kind of runs with this personality.
The fun little twist with the film is when Madison reaches back out to Gary/Ron and the two not only have a date, but a steamy relationship builds between the two. What’s fun is that we as viewers know about Gary’s secret, but as it turns out Madison may have a secret or two of her own. The second half of this film is a lot of fun and at times is sexy as hell. I love the ride that this story takes us on, and Linklater does a fantastic job with steering this story and helping it land on the emotional and comedic beats along the way. What is so impressive is how simple this film is. It is a genuine character-driven piece; there really isn’t an action sequence, but the story is so compelling that you won’t feel any action is needed.
The story is based on a real person, and it is hard to say how much is real and how much is Hollywood, but that’s part of what makes this story so fascinating. It really is a shame that this was a Netflix release and it only had a very limited theatrical run, because this is the kind of movie I feel could have been a sleeper hit of the summer. We just don’t get these kinds of films any more at the theater, and if we do they tend to come out during awards season and are overlooked. I love how charming this film is, and with Glen Powel also having Twisters coming out later this summer, I feel like this will cement him as an A-lister. This is a film with two stars that are about to explode, and I’m confident that this is a film that audiences are going to remember for years to come.
(Hit Man is now streaming on Netflix)
