Ah, the return of the movie star. Shame that this title went straight to Netflix, where film nerds will talk about Richard Linklater’s latest for two weeks and a few other people will get to it before it is lost to the algorithm, but at least I get to spend the next few years telling people about this rad Glen Powell movie that they missed, right?
While it may at first seem otherwise, Hit Man could have been a outright adult blockbuster. The straight-to-streaming film is an excellent mixture of comedy, drama, and some very sexy misadventures. Based on journalist Skip Hollandsworth’s article “Hit Man,” released via Texas Monthly, Linklater’s new film was designed to put adult butts in seats. Glen Powell, who initially approached Linklater about the film and who has a co-writing credit, takes what might otherwise be a believable film and elevates it to a point worthy of the “somewhat based on a true story” thing that audiences eat up.
He stars as Gary Johnson, a psychology and philosophy professor at the University of New Orleans. Johnson lives alone, has lunch with his best friend/ex-wife that regularly teases him about a lack of passion, and drives his Honda Civic home to eat leftovers alone with his two cats. He lacks charisma, has no friends, and the only interesting points in his life are when he moonlights for the police department. Gary is also a tech nerd, setting up hidden cameras and microphones so the police can capture the confessions and intentions of people who thing they’re hiring a hitman. A last-second cop suspension leads to an opening and the crew insist that Gary step in and pretend to be the hitman. Turns out he’s got a thing for it and the gang makes it a regular thing (the film proposes there are around six cops in this department).
It’d be a lot easier to buy that this guy was a boring loser but he’s played by Glen Powell, a personality so big and a man so hot that heads turn when he walks into a room. And I like that! I love the idea that we’re returning to an era where a movie star can do something like this. And make no mistake, Powell is a movie star. The Top Gun: Maverick actor has been making his way into the heads and hearts (and other parts) of the American conscience since his turn as Hangman. Between that film, showing up to play in Anyone But You, and the upcoming Twisters, there’s an excitement in the air around him that’s thrilling to behold. It helps smooth over the fact that there’s no way this guy could ever be the birding-nerd doormat that he’s initially playing.
These types of transformations need confidence and something sexy to keep the audience invested. Enter Madison Masters (Adria Arjona), a married woman with a cruel and controlling husband she’s decided would be a better man buried in soil. Johnson is charmed by her and sees her genuine distress (the fact that she’s as hot as he is doesn’t hurt a bit), so instead of following through with the sting he talks her down and sends her on her way. The two begin an affair, with Gary still under his alias “Ron” and Madison insanely horny for this faux-freelance killer. The juggling between his daily life and his other personality naturally begins to spiral out of control.
I do adore what Linklater is playing with here. He’s long seemed fascinated with whether or not adults truly can change or evolve, but with Hit Man his thesis is straight-up just “what if we all had a horny psycho inside of us?” There are a thousand different versions of this movie that could have gone wrong, but the Boyhood director was hand selected by Powell for a reason. He’s always been a versatile director, able to move between romance and science fiction and comedy and even animation, and Powell seems to be following in Tom Cruise’s steps; why not work with directors that can do something interesting with your star persona?
Adria Arjona makes for an excellent femme fatale for Powell. The Good Omens actress feels as free as her character (y’know, after she leaves her douchebag husband), embracing her fun and flirty side that matches perfectly with Powell’s goofball charmer, Ron. The two have enough chemistry that Hit Man rises from a mere comedy to a seductive, hilarious, and star-making vehicle for Arjona. She’s got the right stuff, so it’s a shame that this wasn’t available theatrically to really give audiences the engagement that she deserves.
As is tradition with Richard Linklater films this soundtrack is gonna be a must-have. Leon Redbone, Kid Thomas Valentine, and Buckwheat Zydeco all turn up for an album that is just banger after banger. The director has always always known how to cobble together something masterful with his music, not unlike Cameron Crowe in the 90s, and Hit Man is no different. The whole thing is a bop from start to finish, one that should be blasting from everyone’s cars all summer long because this thing was such a blockbu…oh right, the Netflix of it all.
Hit Man is just awesome. It’s a sexy, hilarious, and gorgeous adult, R-rated movie. I think you’re all going to have the best time with it, even if it’s on your couch at home while folding laundry. I hope you give it more respect than that. These kinds of movies are the types of things I hope we all support, and I want more of them. So everyone go watch it. Now.
Hit Man is streaming exclusively on Netflix.
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