One of the most buzz-worthy movies out of Venice and TIFF is Hit Man, the latest movie from Richard Linklater starring Glen Powell. Apparently, it’s Powell who found the idea for the movie in a 2001 Texas Monthly article about fake assassin Gary Johnson, written by Skip Hollandsworth. He brought it to Linklater, and he ended up co-writing the script, though this movie is more ‘inspired by’ than ‘based on’ a true story.
Gary Johnson’s larger-than-life persona lends itself well to cinematic adaptation. A bland, rather geeky-looking philosophy professor at the University of New Orleans, Johnson takes up a side hustle with the New Orleans Police Department, assisting in undercover sting operations. When Jasper (Austin Amelio), the cop assigned to portray a fake gun for hire, gets suspended, Gary steps into his role and astounds his colleagues with his real knack for soliciting confessions and payments from potential clients. In fact, he understands his assignment so well that his confession rate soon outshines Jasper’s.
The real Gary Johnson was dubbed the ‘Laurence Olivier of the field’ as he was so convincing in disguising himself as a hitman that his sting operation led to more than 60 arrests. But the movie explicitly states in its epilogue that there were things the real Johnson never did, saying cheekily, “We made that part up.” I think Johnson would’ve enjoyed seeing himself portrayed in this movie, unfortunately, he passed away in 2022, and Linklater himself only got to talk to him on the phone a few times.
The script is firing on all cylinders right from the start. We immediately sympathize with the nice and safe guy with hidden talents. As soon as Gary takes up the persona of smooth-talker ‘Ron,’ Powell dials up his considerable charm to a killer level. Things get complicated when he meets Madison (Adria Arjona) who wants to get rid of her controlling husband. His ‘Ron’ alias takes over, and he becomes Madison’s confidante turned lover as he talks her out of killing her husband and encourages her to start a new life. Of course, breaking protocol will have consequences for Gary, and the movie manages to keep viewers in suspense as to how far he’d go to balance his new love and his side job with the NOPD which he clearly enjoys.
Powell, whose well-oiled muscles and unbridled smugness made him one of the breakout stars of Top Gun: Maverick displays a knack for playing multiple personas. From country boy, Russian thug, to Wall Street suit a la Patrick Bateman, Powell is clearly having the time of his life portraying Gary Johnson. I actually laughed watching Powell don various disguises to fool a series of clients. His impressions are spot on, even his Tilda Swinton impression with a British accent makes me chuckle. I’ve only seen him in a brief role in The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, and as a co-lead in Set It Up, this is definitely the best work I’ve seen so far. I’m slightly more enthused about the new Twisters movie now, though I doubt he’d top Bill Paxton from the 1996 original.
While Powell does the heavy lifting, his co-stars are pulling their weight as well. Gary’s NOPD colleagues, Claudette (Retta) and Phil (Sanjay Rao) are pretty funny, while Arjona (who was terrific in the ANDOR series) has comedic chops to go with her alluring appeal. Powell and Arjona have a palpable chemistry, which makes their flirtatious banter enjoyable to watch.
Linklater is known for his good-vibes comedies (Dazed and Confused, School of Rock) and dramas (the Before trilogy, Boyhood). The last film of his I saw was Where’d You Go, Bernadette, which was disappointing despite Cate Blanchett’s fantastic performance. It’s nice to see him tackle an unexpected genre of action comedy for his first live-action feature in 5 years. It’s a rare crime caper that manages to be sly and effective without featuring a single shootout. A more action-oriented director would’ve likely made this movie overblown and bloody, but Linklater wisely deconstructs the ubiquitous violent hit-man actioner like John Wick or most Jason Statham flicks.
Just like the persona-shifting protagonist, this clever crime caper also doubles as a sassy rom-com. I’d love to see more comedy-caper romance like this that’s unafraid to be a bit steamy while unabashedly wearing its heart on its sleeve.
Hit Man is now streaming on Netflix
Have you seen Hit Man? I’d love to hear what YOU think!
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FLIXCHATTER FILM BLOG 
I’m a fan of Richard Linklater though I haven’t seen anything he’s done since Everybody Wants Some!!!! that also featured Glen Powell (who was also in Fast Food Nation as a teen) as I do want to see this as I need to catch up on some of Linklater’s recent films. It looks fun.
Yeah Powell was in Everybody Wants Some!!!! so he’s already got a relationship with Linklater. This one is fun, I think you’ll enjoy it!
Great reviews as always. I have heard great things about this movie and look forward to watching it soon. The draw for me is the director Richard Linklater. Linklater is a fantastic filmmaker that has proven he can make meaningful movies in the past. Whether it’s his teenage dramas, coming of age films or romantic dramas, Linklater has proven he can excel making movies in every genre.
My favorite film from him is “Boyhood”. A mesmerizing masterpiece about the evolution of a boy over 12 years. It’s an incredibly relatable film which hit me so hard. I watched it when I was making a transition to university and related with Mason’s journey. I was shocked when it didn’t win the Oscar for best picture that year.
So, I will definitely keep “Hit Man” on my watchlist of films to see. Thanks for the recommendation.
Here’s my thoughts on “Boyhood”:
Hi Hassan, I actually have not seen Boyhood yet but that’s cool to hear the film resonated with you deeply. I think films have different effects on people depending on where they’re at when they watch them. It’s astounding that he filmed over the course of a jaw-dropping 12 years!
As for Hit Man, this is a new genre for Linklater but he & Powell did a great job [loosely] adapting this incredible true story. I wasn’t a fan of Powell before this but I have to admit he’s quite funny in this one, his Tilda Swinton impression made me laugh.
This one popped up on my Netflix feed and since it’s getting lots of good reviews, I decided to give it a watch over the weekend. I was surprised how much I enjoyed it. I’m not the biggest fan of Linklater’s films, I think the last film I saw from him was School of Rock. Glen Powell proved that he can be a good leading man, will that lead to him being the next big star that Hollywood hope he can be? We’ll have to wait and see. But he doesn’t make want to go see the new Twisters film, though. Lol!
I feel the same way Ted, just curious to see what the fuss is about. Glad it lived up to the hype. I wasn’t into Powell like everyone else, but now I could see why he’s becoming popular… he’s got that Texas charm like McConaughey. I saw a photo of him at the Netflix premiere with his parents where they held up a sign saying ‘Stop Making Glen Powell Happen’ and ‘It’s Not Going To Happen’ I think it’s cool that him and his family have such a great sense of humor about the fame thing.
I’m slightly more curious about the new Twister flick but only if I can see it for free in the theater/streaming.
Yes, I saw that photo of his parents putting up that sign, too! It’s hilarious. It’s true, every time Hollywood tried to push someone to be the next big star, it’s never a good thing for that actor. They’re still trying to make Ryan Gosling into the same league as Leo and Tom Cruise but with string of box office misfires as the lead, they may have to give up on him. I think right now, Timothee Chalamet, is the only actor that can be as big as Cruise and Leo. But let’s see if his next film can make money or not.
Yeah, I think Gosling alone doesn’t put butts in seats, if he can’t do that even after the mega-success of the Barbie movie, then he probably never will. I think Chalamet is on his way to becoming a box office golden child, and I know Hollywood is trying to make Paul Mescal happen, LOL.
I still have yet to see anything from Mescal, so I’m curious how Gladiator 2 will perform. I know with Denzel in the film, they’ll probably feature him in the promotion since regular film goers don’t know anything about Mescal but they know Washington.
I should a list of actors and actresses that Hollywood tried to push to become a super star but failed. The actress that they’re pushing right now is Any Taylor-Joy and unfortunately, her first big film was the biggest flop of this year. Maybe, she’ll recover once Dune Messiah comes out, she’s going to be one of the major characters in part 3 of that series.