Hit Man Movie Review

Hit Man (2023)

Watch Hit Man on Netflix
Written by: Richard Linklater & Glen Powell (screenplay), Skip Hollandsworth (article)
Directed by: Alex Kurtzman
Starring: Glen Powell, Adria Arjona, Retta, Austin Amelio
Rated: R
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Plot
A professor moonlighting as a hit man of sorts for his city police department descends into dangerous, dubious territory when he finds himself attracted to a woman who enlists his services.

Verdict
The premise sounds ridiculous, but it is based on a true story which makes this all the more fun. Linklater movies always excel at dialog and this is no exception. Some of the best scenes are two characters in conversation. There's always a lot between the lines since half the conversation is a charade. The movie infuses enough drama to raise the stakes, though the ending does feel rushed. It's not the typical rom com, despite plenty of similarities this features more than enough to make it unique.
Watch It.

Review
The real Gary Johnson was an investigator for the district attorney's office that taught a couple of night classes. He did pose as a hit man to obtain evidence, regarded as one of the greatest actors by the police by changing his voice, appearance, and accent for any situation. Despite the local press and accolades, he still got calls for his services, aiding in the arrest of over sixty individuals. The article serving as the basis of the movie ends with Gary persuading a woman to seek social services and a therapist. This movie takes the idea and runs with it.

Gary (Glen Powell) works as a college professor, lives alone with his cats, and drives a Civic. It's a simple life and in voice over he states he's happy. He also works part time with the police department as he's good with electronics and helps them with surveillance devices.

Glen Powell plays Gary Johnson

I don't know if a civilian would get delegated to go undercover, but in a small town and extreme circumstances I suppose it's possible. Gary gets the task, and he's a natural. The cops listening in can't believe how good he is. Gary goes into detail on how he would commit the act and then cover it up to convince his potential client. You wonder how he knows this and how much he's thought about it. It's such a fun conversation as the mark completely buys it. For that matter, so do we.

Gary enjoys the job, researching each mark and dressing up as the hit man his fake clients want him to be. He's good at getting them to talk and implicate themselves in a crime. Powell had to have a lot of fun with this, playing all these diverse characters with costumes to match. He does a great job.

As "Ron," Gary meets a new 'client' Madison (Adria Arjona), and they hit it off. He likes this woman, but the relationship has a shelf life. He's living a lie. When will the truth come out? Ron is much cooler than Gary, the other cops overseeing the case like Ron a lot. I wondered if this was going to become a situation where the more time Gary spends as Ron, the more he wants to be Ron and leave his old persona behind for Madison. How do you balance two lives? The other option is that Madison eventually finds out and is upset he lied to her, leaves him, and wonders what was real.

Glen Powell, Adria Arjona play "Ron", Madison

Gary gets into a real pickle when Madison's ex-husband wants to hire him to kill her. When the ex-husband is discovered dead, that creates a situation for Gary with Madison and the police. He's suspicious of her, and the police are suspicious of both of them. Gary eventually confronts Madison, and that conversation is a trip. It's a ton of fun as Gary has to thread the needle, making sure it doesn't make the police more suspicious. It's such a great sequence.

While this set up a morally questionable cop early on, Jasper (Austin Amelio) is a contrived plot point just to add a layer of drama. He does serve a point to move the plot along, but the ending feels like an afterthought. The mood for most of this movie has been a silly premise with sharp dialog. The conclusion doesn't have any of that; it's a swift conclusion. I wish this went deeper with Gary having to wrestle with being two people and how Madison finds a way to reconcile his lies. The movie wraps that up too easily and quickly. We're basically told everything works out okay.