It’s taken a bit for Glen Powell to finally walk into the spotlight. After cropping up in the likes of Hidden Figures, Set It Up and Everybody Wants Some!! (the final collaboration with Richard Linklater), it was 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick that saw him really take flight, providing an unforgettably hissable-yet-heroic performance as Lt Jake ‘Hangman’ Seresin. Major turns have come since — box-office-busting romcom Anyone But You and another aviation adventure, Devotion — but it is with Hit Man that Powell declares himself as a cinematic star and creative force to be reckoned with.
Inspired by the actual tale of teacher-turned-pretend-assassin Gary Johnson (as described by journalist Skip Hollandsworth in a 2001 piece for Texas Monthly), Hit Man sees Powell re-team with Linklater, this time on a deeper creative level as co-writer. It takes the real-life nugget of Gary’s strange side-hustle and stretches it into a narrative of murder, intrigue and mugshots. Powell begins off the movie acting against type — his Gary is a socks-and-sandals-wearing recluse and birdwatcher, with two cats and a poor haircut. But when he’s requested last-minute to adopt the position of phony hit guy, so as to entice people trying to pay him into admitting openly enough to merit being caught, he is intoxicated by the confidence that being somebody else provides him.
Cue a comic roll-call of disguises, as Gary delights in studying his targets and figuring out the exact sort of hitman that will lure them over the edge into criminal area. There’s the tattooed redneck with wrap-around sunglasses and camouflage bandana; the Russian-accented, cigar-chomping goth in the black leather coat; the slick-haired, sharp-suited yuppie who looks like he came straight off the set of American Psycho; the freckle-faced British guy with a ginger bob, dressed entirely in orange; and many, many more. Powell falls totally into every one of these identities, going full-on clown with amazing comic timing.
His greatest role, though, is beautiful charmer Ron. He is the assassin that Gary devises for Madison (Adria Arjona), a lady searching for a way out of her unhappy marriage — but upon meeting her, Gary forgets his objective, allowing Madison get away with her prospective crime before striking up a relationship with her under his Ron persona. Arjona portrays both fieriness and fragility in what is definitely a breakout performance for her, making Madison an appealing fit for Gary/Ron while making sure there’s always something odd about her that we can’t quite put our finger on. Her connection with Powell is intense, captured by Linklater through physical touch and lengthy eye contact. A romance founded on lies and murder-for-hire is not exactly a healthy dynamic, but the duo are too compelling for you to care, their magnetism together pouring off-screen even when the storyline grows increasingly heightened and theatrical.
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Though the storyline has lots of twists and turns, Linklater’s filmmaking nevertheless manages to conjure the warm, comfy feel of his finest hang-out flicks. Hit Man’s visual style is simple, unfussy – not tremendously original, but cheerful and colorful and appealing. That new, contemporary appearance juxtaposes effectively with a more conventional, jazzy soundtrack throughout. But while there are a few dramatic passages that work at creating tension, especially in the third act, the picture largely rushes along on a very level keel – always amusing, but never quite delivering significant leaps in tempo or mood. Questionable, too, is exactly how rapidly Gary is able to shift gear from being a fumbling, socially-awkward technologist into a cool-as-a-cucumber contract assassin. The script leverages Gary’s profession as a psychology and philosophy instructor to go some way into diving into this, and the ethics of his mock assassin position, but that examination stays rather surface-level.
Gary’s whiplash-inducing personality swings are simply a complaint – those aside, Hit Man excels on just about every level. It’s humorous, sexual, exhilarating, interesting. It’s original, and pleasantly so. It’s just a friggin’ terrific time at the movies — and thus, more’s the shame that it will enjoy such a short theatrical run after being snatched up for distribution by Netflix. If you can, try to experience Linklater, Powell and Arjona’s intoxicating combination for yourself on the big screen.
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