Hit Man (Richard Linklater) - Review

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

RICHARD Linklater’s Hit Man is a genuine crowd-pleaser that takes elements of a true story and subverts several genres to create a wildly entertaining and consistently unpredictable romantic comedy thriller.

Inspired by a 2001 magazine article in Texas Monthly, written by Skip Hollandsworth (who subsequently co-wrote the screenplay with Linklater and leading man Glen Powell), the story is inspired by real-life ‘fake hitman’ Gary Johnson. It takes several artistic liberties, for sure, but remains true to the essence of what made the story so interesting to the filmmakers in the first place.

And that is how Johnson went from being a somewhat nerdy (and divorced) philosophy professor to an undercover law enforcement officer for the New Orleans Police Department who specialised in posing as a hitman to gain confessions from potential conspiracy to murder suspects.

Johnson (played by Top Gun: Maverick’s Powell) takes over the role from disgraced officer Jasper (Austin Amelio), following his suspension for beating up innocent teen suspects, and soon proves himself adept at gaining confessions that don’t risk being overturned as entrapment.

In order to do so, Johnson dons elaborate disguises and assumes the alter-ego of Ron, an altogether cooler and more confident persona, who suddenly adds extra pep to Gary’s own private life.

When Ron is put next to Madison (Adria Arjona), he finds himself both sympathetic to her plight (escaping an abusive husband) and irresistibly smitten by her charm – and after dissuading her from taking out a contract, begins an unwise affair.

Their ensuing relationship is complicated by the deception at play – as Johnson struggles to keep Gary and Ron apart – and by the eventual murder of Madison’s husband, which makes her the primary suspect.

So much of the joy in watching Linklater’s film unfold lies in the sparkling chemistry between its two main stars – a chemistry that has already, and justifiably, been compared to that shared between George Clooney and Jennifer Lopez in Out of Sight. Powell and Arjona are scintillating together - Powell both self-deprecating and cool (the hype surrounding him is real), and Arjona mixing vulnerability with elements of femme fatale and raw sexual appeal. 

Their relationship is worth rooting for, which gives Linklater room to explore some complicated morality and take the final third of the film into undoubtedly darker territory, without compromising its overall air of breeziness.

As a result, there’s opportunity for explorations of identity, toxic masculinity and the nature of existence, which in turn also allows Linklater to remind us of his penchant for allowing actors to really stretch their legs in each other’s company and enjoy lengthy conversations – much as he did with the Before Sunrise movie trilogy.

There are several exchanges between Johnson and the ladies in his life that recall this, and which really allow audiences to get under the skin of the characters, humanising them even more, while opening up the themes that lie at the film’s heart.

It masks some of the more rom-com elements, infusing the screenplay with a sexiness and intelligence that is, again, inherent in the screenplays for movies such as Out of Sight.

And yet, Linklater is also adept enough to simultaneously maintain the thriller elements – throwing several surprises in along the way as deceptions become revealed and Johnson must think on his feet to keep one step ahead of his employers, while protecting the woman he loves.

There are several scenarios that genuinely delight in the ingenuity that Johnson employs to talk his way out of seemingly impossible situations.

The overall result is a smart, adult thriller that exhilarates on many levels. It is deservedly already being hailed as one of the best films of the year.