Glen Powell is brilliant as a teacher posing as an assassin.
Director Richard Linklater reunites with his “Everybody Wants Some” star Glen Powell in “Hit Man.” Not to be confused with “Hitman.” You know the assassin with the barcode on the back of his head. But simply, “Hit Man.” They co-wrote the screenplay, which is based on Skip Hollandsworth’s 2001 article in Texas Monthly, and they both manage to provide some smart and funny entertainment.
Gary Johnson (Powell) is a professor of philosophy at the University of New Orleans, who finds himself posing as a hitman named Ron, so the police (Retta and Sanjay Rao are cops, while Austin Amelio plays the undercover cop Jasper) can arrest people trying to hire him. He surprisingly becomes very good at it, especially when he works on the make-up, accent, and hairstyles. The funniest is when he sounds like Eric Idle in one scene. At least, I think he sounds like the Monty Python actor.
I’m reminded of a funny scene in “Horrible Bosses,” when Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, and Jason Sudeikis were planning to hire a hitman to kill their bosses, but Bateman was suggesting it was an undercover cop. It wasn’t, but if you haven’t seen that movie, I won’t spoil anything. But if you have, then I’m probably wasting my time. My response is: this is what I was thinking of.
Back to “Hit Man, which, by coincidence, was also produced by Bateman. Maybe I didn’t waste your time after all.
Gary’s next target is Maddy Masters (Adria Ajorna), a beauty queen’s daughter, who is in a horrible marriage with Ray (Evan Holyzman). He takes such a liking to her, that he offers her the chance to start a new life with the money she was going to offer him. He keeps his true identity in tact, while dating her. But of course, things spin out of control, regarding the husband.
“Hit Man” is the second time Linklater has made a Netflix movie after “Apollo 10 1/2: A Space Age Childhood,” which I’m appalled didn’t make the Top 10 viewed movies on its opening streaming weekend. I sure hope that when “Hit Man” makes it on the streaming site after its quick theatrical release, then people will see it, because there’s something wise in such a movie that knows how to lampoon a police undercover like this.
Even though some scenes drag on a bit, there’s still some energy within the Powell character, and attitude in the Ajorna character. They both have chemistry and they’re able to adapt to the screenplay. How would she really react when she finds out her boyfriend is an undercover cop? How would this relationship really take off, given the circumstances? These are questions you’re supposed to ask when watching a movie like this, and you’re supposed to have fun going along with it.
I never really expected Linklater to have fun with this particular genre. I probably would have guessed one of the Coen brothers. But regardless, Linklater delivers “Hit Man” with a charming and funny sense, and he and Powell both make a fresh team here. Not because they’ve collaborated before, but because they manage to turn a true story into a comedy that isn’t desperate for laughs, but uses whatever opportunity they have to tickle us. When opportunity comes a knocking, they go a rocking.
Now Playing in Select Theaters
Streaming on Netflix June 7
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