Hit Man
This hugely enjoyable, darkly comic, romantic thriller is the kind of original film that rarely gets made these days. Powered by charismatic star performances from Glen Powell and Adria Arjona, Hit Man is a fun ride that found an unbelievable real-life premise, and then takes it in some unexpected directions.
Premise: Buttoned-down college psychology professor Gary Johnson (Glen Powell) is moonlighting as a tech-guy for the New Orleans police department in sting operations to gather evidence on people trying to hire contract killers, when a twist of fate means that he has to step in to play a fake ‘hit man’ for a potential client. Discovering an unexpected talent for undercover work, Gary starts to create different fake personas to match each potential client. But when Madison (Adria Arjona) attempts to hire a hit man to kill her abusive husband, Gary begins to blur the line between his real life and his fake identities.
Review:
The craziest part of the premise for this film is actually true: as documented in a 2001 magazine article, Gary Johnson was a real-life college professor who moonlighted for the police as a fake hit man in a series of undercover sting operations to gather evidence on suspects attempting to hire contract killers. Demonstrating that truth is stranger than fiction, director Richard Linklater and actor Glen Powell were inspired by the original article to co-write this film, which takes the intriguing premise as the starting point for a hugely entertaining story that’s a times a dark screwball comedy, at times a steamy romance, and at times an edge-of-the-seat thriller.
It’s been said that although most of Richard Linklater’s films can broadly be described as idiosyncratic indie films (such as Boyhood), when he does make a more ‘commercial’ film (like School of Rock) it’s a joy to behold. Hit Man certainly matches that description, and while the content and storyline are obviously more adult than School of Rock’s, the end result is no less enjoyable or original.
“…this film showcase what a charismatic-yet-multifaceted leading man Glen Powell can be…”
But for me, the real revelation here is Glen Powell, who not only carries the film on screen (he’s in practically every scene and acts as the narrator!), but who also co-wrote the screenplay with Richard Linklater (his first feature film writing credit). By no means an overnight success story, Glen Powell put in the hard graft before really breaking through into the public consciousness in 2022 with his role as “Hangman” in Top Gun: Maverick. It feels like he’s having a well-deserved moment right now, with Anyone But You becoming a sleeper hit earlier this year, Twisters due out later this summer blockbuster season, and now Hit Man showcasing what a charismatic-yet-multifaceted leading man he can be.
Glen Powell convinces in all of his personas in Hit Man, from the emotionally buttoned-down college professor Gary, to the ‘Ron’ persona that he adopts for his first meeting with Madison (Adria Arjona), through to all of the other fake hit men that he portrays during the course of the movie. But as amusing as all of these fake personas are, there’s some unexpected depth in this movie, both in terms of the way in which Gary uses his psychology background to tailor each fake hit man to the needs and subconscious desires of a specific ‘client’, as well as in terms of the way that Gary begins to lose sight of his own sense of identity, and indeed, begins to question what an ‘identity’ is in the first place.
“…Adria Arjona delivers a playful & humorous (yet multilayered) performance…”
The supporting cast are all great, with each of the cops on the undercover team each getting some great comedic moments – but ultimately, the film lives or dies depending on how believable and engaging the relationship between Glen Powell’s Gary/‘Ron’ and Adria Arjona’s Madison is. Thankfully, both actors are fantastic in their roles, with Adria Arjona delivering a more playful and humorous (but no less multilayered) performance here than she got the opportunity to do in her award-worthy performance as Bix in the Star Wars TV show, Andor.
I don’t want to say too much about the plot of the movie, as part of the fun for me was not really knowing where this was going after the initial set up, which sees Gary (in his persona as ‘Ron’) let Madison go free during a sting operation, because he feels that she’s not really a ‘bad’ person (despite attempting to hire a hit man to kill her husband). It’s not a spoiler to say that eventually Madison and ‘Ron’ embark on a relationship – but from there, the film veers playfully between the romance, thriller and screwball comedy genres, somehow making all of the tonal shifts not only work, but sing.
“…powered by some charismatic central performances & an inventive script…”
This is the type of truly original film that we rarely see - a slick and enjoyable piece of mainstream entertainment that’s powered by some charismatic central performances and an inventive script. A charming movie that should appeal to almost everyone, this is a hidden gem that is well worth a watch.
