The Film Buffa Reviews: Is Richard Linklater's 'Hit Man' as good as advertised?
Glen Powell is a great mixer for a movie drink these days, but is it any good?
Early on in Netflix’s latest original cinematic joint, Hit Man, easygoing Gary Johnson (Glen Powell) tells us all about his seemingly boring life (probably thrilling to a 42-year-old parent). A movie starting out with narration from the film’s lead character can mean a few things: they’re dead, about to die, almost died and lived to tell about it, or recounting a story to the audience that could shape shift eventually.
Gary teaches physiology and psychology at a college in New Orleans, but he also moonlights as a tech savvy helper to the police department on undercover sting operations. One night, when the cop posing as a hitman for hire on the case can’t make it, Gary takes his place. Nerdy and willing to talk your ear off about birding but far from unkempt, he gets the confession and nails the job.
But as the narrator informs and anyone who’s watched a movie in the past twenty years can tell you, it’s not that simple. After pulling a number of disguises to fool his marks into thinking he can really take a life, Gary’s breath is taken away from an abused wife (Adria Arjona) seeking shelter from her husband. His hard ass persona named “Ron” starts showing too much Gary, and the job falls flat. But will she find out the truth about her charming would-be assassin? From there, Hit Man doesn’t really do too much surprising or enlightening.
Directed by Richard Linklater, Hit Man struts the floor like it’s something completely different from what you’ve watched before: an odd duck in a familiar pond that will make you laugh and sneak in some thrills before it settles on an ending. A comedy posing as a thriller with the intentions of being unique, Hit Man is an easy-breezy watch without much on its mind. But is it any good?
For two thirds of the movie, it was working. Gary’s wild and sometimes funny personas, including a dead-on rendition of Christian Bale’s Bateman from American Psycho, take on a life of their own and help the light plot gather some steam. The whole worth and value of the movie is placed on the shoulders of two things: Powell’s star power and his chemistry with Arjona.
While I think the Top Gun: Maverick and Anyone But You star has genuine talent and good Hollywood sea legs, he’s not as good as I thought he would be here. The problem is he’s doing a number of Tom Cruise impersonations with his performance. It’s everywhere. Every time I saw Gary, I saw a lonesome Jerry Maguire. Every time his hard-ass yet soulful Ron came on screen, I saw Ray from Knight and Day. When he’s talking to his class and starting to slick back his hair more, I saw Cruise’s Frank T.J. Mackey from Magnolia.
I mean, Powell really Tom Cruised the shit out of his role. Granted, I like Cruise a lot but felt like his fingerprints were all over this performance. After a while, you wonder who Gary is and if he’s really worth caring for or watching. A suspected plot twist with Arjona’s Madison can be seen from a mile away, and the movie’s end includes a neat little bow.
Maybe if we actually spent more time with Powell’s Gary and not with his multiple personas, the film’s third act would have made a bigger impact. It’s not like the different personalities are bad; we don’t spend much time with either of them except for sweet-souled killer with a heart of gold, Ron aka Ray. In the end, it’s fluffy.
Linklater’s movie moves like a jazz tune, but it’s more style than substance. Either it wasn’t for me, or I wanted more. When something is built up like Hit Man has been since its premiere at Sundance and the bidding frenzy that followed, your expectations rise with the tide. It’s hard these days to hide from movies that make noise, so their eventual premiere carries more weight.
I do think Powell has the goods, but he doesn’t really create any chemistry with Arjona, who has about two moods and expressions for the entire film. A lot of sexy time drums up some heat, but nothing that gets you caring about their fate. Think of when Clarence met Alabama in True Romance. He was a hapless movie fan and she was searching for a way out from her abusive boyfriend. They spent a night together, and we were hooked in. The movie hinged on the belief in their romance, and we did.
In Hit Man, Gary and Madison meet about whacking her husband, and fall for each other. And… that’s really about it. The movie is inspired by the real story of a Houston investigator who moonlighted for the authorities, but I bet his life was better than the movie’s main crutch of romance. Maybe if the movie spent more time telling us about Gary, the end result would have been better.
As is, Hit Man isn’t a bad watch but nothing memorable enough to rush to it immediately.