“If the ‘self’ is a construct, and it’s all just role play, do you think people can change?”
Richard Linklater’s latest foray leads audiences to a road less travelled in the mainstream cinema of today. A road full of rough edges, diminished morality and a leading man who, had this movie been made in the early 2000’s, would be cemented in the annals of Hollywood history with Jimmy Stewart, Jack Lemmon and Marlon Brando. Alas, Hit Man released in 2024 where the movie star is a dying breed, the mere mention of sex in a movie causes mind-numbing internet discourse, and one of the best movies of the year is “distributed” by Netflix, destined to vanish from mind in the near endless ocean of content slop.
Make no mistake, Hit Man is not a Netflix movie. This is a film with a distinct vision, developed entirely by a pair of artists who don’t compromise on the vision until the credits roll. Based on an article in Texas Monthly by Skip Hollandsworth, a journalist who’s made a habit of having his work adapted by Linklater, Hit Man follows Gary Johnson (Glen Powell, who co-wrote the wonderful screenplay with Linklater), a mild-mannered professor of psychology who moonlights as a fake hitman for the New Orleans Police Department. When Johnson falls for a prospective client, Madison (Adria Arjona, fresh off the success of 2022’s Andor) he enters a balancing act where any slip could send him tumbling into the crosshairs of any one of the hordes of people he’s crossed.
Linklater and Powell’s screenplay is fantastic, constantly several steps ahead of even the most keen-eyed viewers. By the time Gary and Madison begin their relationship even your annoying friend/relative/enemy who proclaims they can spot movie twists from miles away will be stumped. It’s that unpredictability which drives the audience’s hunger to know what happens next as they watch the lovable protagonist hurtle further into a world of deceit and darkness. They know someone is going to end up dead, the only question is who, and who killed them?
The question of who underscores the entire film. Who is Gary Johnson, certainly, but who are any of us? We are not fixed as us, we all have the capacity for change. Maybe not as much change as Gary perhaps. Undeniably, the main draw of this movie for most people will be the various characters Powell inhabits as part of his well-researched hitman ruse. These characters do not disappoint. Some of these characters are subtle, like the plot-critical Ron, or the Mechanic with slightly altered teeth or Powell’s best Patrick Bateman impression. Some of the characters are bombastic, the Russian ‘Miami Vice’ fan clad in all black leather and the crackhead redneck were two favourites of mine. Be aware however, these characters are all over the marketing but they are used sparingly in the film itself.
The supporting cast are not to be overlooked. While Powell and Arjona lead the work with great performances, characters like Jasper the fake hitman who Gary replaces when he is suspended from the police force for an undisclosed violent act toward some teenagers are stand-out. Played by Austin Amelio, a working actor best known for his role as Dwight in The Walking Dead, Jasper is a character easy to hate. He’s slimy, racist, and abusive. A gross character played to perfection and the most hateable villains since Waingro in Michael Mann’s opus, ‘Heat’.
Hit Man is a welcome departure from the typical fare of today. It harkens back to a simpler time when film wasn’t about the box office, when artists could take a chance, when directors and movie stars ruled the roost.Hit Man is the hangout movie I’ve been waiting for. It’s dark, sexy, slightly off-kilter, strangely cozy and above all, so much fun.
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