Hit Man Review: One of the Year’s Best Comedies

Hit Man is a crowd-pleasing romp with riotous laughs, infectious energy, and joyous sweetness. One of the year’s best comedies.

The versatility of Richard Linklater’s filmography doesn’t quite get enough credit: from the romantic ballads that are the films in the Before Trilogy, to his odes to childhood and growing up in Boyhood and Apollo 10 ½: A Space Age Childhood, or even contemplative drama pieces in Last Flag Flying and Me and Orson Welles. Obviously, one cannot forget generation-defining romps such as Everybody Wants Some!!, School of Rock and Dazed and Confused.

Suffice it to say, Linklater’s 5 decade-long career as his him challenge his storytelling sensibilities and dip his toes into the many different genres he could connect to, but it should surprise nobody his latest work finds himself within a well-define realm of comedy, while pushing slightly into the dark side of humor, but in typical fashion, containing an unexpected earnest heart. Enter Hit Man which so happens to be the somewhat true story of Gary Johnson (Glen Powell) who is the most sought-after professional killer in New Orleans.

Note: This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Hit Man would not exist without the labor of the writers and actors in both unions.

To his clients, he is like something out of a movie: a mysterious gun for hire who has had his fair share of experiences, sometimes even gloating on the creative ways with which he can get the job done. But if you pay him to rub out a cheating spouse or an abusive boss, you’d better watch your back—he works for the New Orleans Police Department. One day, while on assignment he meets with the beautiful Maddison (Adria Arjona) and in hearing her desperate cry for help, he breaks protocol to help her flee an abusive boyfriend, committing himself becoming one of his false personas, Ron, and eventually begins falling for the woman and flirting with turning into a criminal himself while continuing to put away disgruntled would-be criminals behind bars.

Ripe with comedic potential, Linklater wastes no time in exploring the versatility of Powell’s comedic time & charm in Hit Man, from the very beginning we’re welcomed into his life with his two cats, his work as an enthusiastic college professor of philosophy and psychology as his many romantic shortcomings as one of his closest (and only) friends is his ex-wife, now pregnant with her new husband.

Theirs is an endearing quality to seeing a content underdog miss a certain spark in his life, a quality that Powell effortlessly pulls off thanks to his affable attitude and curiosity towards people and the world, it’s why Gary joined the NOPD as an undercover officer who sits in the van listening to his colleague Jasper (Austin Amelio) who walks in to meetings as a faux hitman pretending to accept payment for a hit.

When Jasper’s actions get him into some hot water, he is suspended and Gary is forced to step in his stead as the man in the field, meeting with a gang member who seeks retaliation against a rival member, and Gary operation goes splendidly despite his nerves thanks to his undying commitment to the role he makes up on the spot, making him the number one operator who acquires a taste for disguises and elaborate personas, something he enjoys immensely as it allows him to explore his own psychology, as well as other people’s, and escape his routinely lonely day-to-day living.

Gary’s track record becomes so impeccable to the point he becomes the police force’s number one guy for the job even as Jasper returns to active duty, now settled for sitting in the van listening to Gary going to work and successfully put away countless criminals, clean up the streets as well as he cleans up after himself, his cats, and the birds he feeds.

Gary more than embraces the several roles he has to come up with buying his own wigs, making his own make up, coming up with the backstories for all the different personas he has to come up with as he meets all kinds of people from the slums of New Orleans seeking retaliation against those who’ve wronged them. Hit Man works thanks to Powell’s lovable charisma which always adamantly puts Gary’s heart of gold in the right place, he is a man seeking to do the right thing.

It however, all comes to a screening halt when he receives a request from the mysterious Madison, who in despair asks to be freed of a loveless prison-like marriage with an unsympathetic rich man, and once Gary meets her, he can’t help but try to help her instead of helping the PD. Immediately he is questioned on his decision-making, badgered by Jasper about his incompetence, but Gary sees as having saved someone instead of sending them away, as he soon learns that Madison as liberated herself and gotten her own place.

Information which she herself is happy to share with Ron (Gary’s fake persona whom Madison met at the “Please U” café) when inviting him to a dog adoption event at the park. Gary’s heart compels him to go, still under the guise of Ron, and the two strike up a conversation and spend the day together, which is fueled by the undeniably electric on-screen chemistry between Powell and Arjona.

The sex-charged flirting between the two flows so naturally one naturally falls for it as hard as they fall for each other, while agreeing on “contractual” terms in the form of foreplay that they must know as little as possible about each other’s lives and keep their distance while physically getting to know each better and being closer than ever, as to not blow “Ron’s” cover given Madison believes she is sleeping with a real hitman.

All the while Johnson is keeping up with his disguises and arrests, feeling increasingly like the spark has gone off a bit, as his mind is kept on Madison. These are sections the film loses track of, stylishly collaged all through the first act and followed usually by Johnson making his presence in the trials of his victims, something that eventually fades to the background as doesn’t really play a major part in the story the more the film unravels, which is a shame because it would’ve given more opportunities for Powell’s ingenious character work to flourish wider than is already does.

Both Powell and Arjona are absolute forces playing off each other with natural likeability seldom found in on-screen couples, offering the opportunity for memorable one-liners to endear us to the character and the embracing of his new self. All anchored by the inherent sweetness of their love affair which carries a relatable innocence from both sides, accentuating how Madison finally finds someone who respects her and emotionally meets her where she’s at, and Gary who despite lying about his identity keeps as true to his values and who he is, wanting to protect Madison and be with her.

He uses Ron as a shield to hide his self-perceived unworthy self and is so insecure in his own worth he fails to realize his genuine qualities as a person are exactly what Madison falls for: leading to one incredibly rich scene where the subtext shines through allows their chemistry to organically flow as if their playing a tennis match with their wits and Linklater’s layered dialogue is brought to live with naturally humanistic humor and thoughtfulness, a scene with was awarded with thunderous applause from the Venice audience.

 

 

Linklater’s strengths have been established in wild romps filled with energy and charisma, and these strengths are ever present in Hit Man while he also never loses track of the genuine craft that goes into believably bringing to life a sweet relationship grounded in human flaws and qualities, such is the case here: it doesn’t just work an unravelling mystery filled with hysterical laughs and outrageous scenarios & interactions, but also as a genuinely sweet romance blossoming naturally between two people lost and hurt by their experiences in searching for connection.

Gary and Madison’s relationship blossoms fast and furious because they unknowingly find a safe space and a safe person who share their much closed out intimacies with and find themselves rewarded for it through gestures and fun kinky games, combining physical with the emotional connection they’ve so longed for. The film is incredibly aware of the sparks the fly between the pair, be it the twinkle in Powell’s eye or Arjona’s hypnotizing presence, the comfort the two share on-screen would fool anyone to think they’re a real life couple but makes the epilogue-style section of the film feel rather sudden, not packing quite the punch the narrative does up until it’s final 5 or so minutes.

It’s the biggest surprise of the festival and one that allows Glen Powell the opportunity for a star-making performance, which he flawlessly crushes, cementing the fact the film would fall short without him being in it and without his presence as a co-writer alongside Linklater, as the two struck up a conversation about the original actor on the real-life Gary Johnson from 2001 written by Skip Hollandsworth.

It’ll be no shock if from here he becomes ever more present in our screen and shares more films with the wonderful Adria Arjona, who brings out the best in him as much as he brings it out of her, with such a natural chemistry audiences with crave to see more of.

HIT MAN is a crowd-pleasing romp with riotous laughs, infectious energy & joyous sweetness. Powell’s affable charisma is matched perfectly by Arjona as they blend electrifying romantic chemistry with undeniable sex-appeal.

One of Linklater’s best films and 2023’s best comedy.

FINAL GRADE: A-

NEXT: Bastarden / The Promised Land Review: A Harrowing Epic

About Hit Man

Gary Johnson is the most sought-after professional killer in New Orleans. To his clients, he is like something out of a movie: the mysterious gun for hire. But if you pay him to rub out a cheating spouse or an abusive boss, you’d better watch your back—he works for the cops. When he breaks protocol to help a desperate woman trying to flee an abusive boyfriend, he finds himself becoming one of his false personas, falling for the woman and flirting with turning into a criminal himself.

Hit Man played at the 2023 Venice Film Festival.