‘Seize the identity you want for yourself...’
My absolute love and devotion for Dazed and Confused ensures that I will always have a soft spot for iconic director Richard Linklater. While his work since that masterpiece has been up and down, he’s never dull. Hit Man sees Linklater team up with Netflix and Hollywood superstar-in-waiting Glen Powell to tell the true story of a college professor who had a sideline as a fake hitman for the Houston Police. While this isn’t up there with Linklater’s best work, it’s still a lot of fun…
Gary Johnson (Glenn Powell) is an unassuming college professor by day and a pretend hitman by night. When he gets mixed up with an alluring but dangerous woman (Adria Arjona) who tries to hire him, he becomes embroiled in a murder mystery of his own.
I will begin by stating that Powell justifies his rising star status here. As the role involves his character playing several different personas, this allows the ridiculously handsome actor to stretch his legs a little bit and really demonstrate his range. Perhaps most pertinently, he’s just as convincing as a dorky college professor as a dangerous gun for hire. It’s a performance that his mentor Tom Cruise will surely approve of. Powell also shares a writing credit with Linklater and as is to be expected of such an experienced filmmaker as the latter, both the plotting and the pacing are on point. My main issue with Hit Man is the tone. At its essence, it is a rom-com but it is neither funny nor romantic. Linklater has never been a gagman, Dazed and Confused is wistful rather than out-and-out funny, and this means that Hit Man never really convinces in the genre that it is most closely aligned to.
Hit Man is a very competent film across the board. Everyone here knows what they are doing and the result is a watchable if forgettable fish out of water comedy that has moments of brilliance. The problem is that the whole isn’t as good as the sum of its parts.
