While it doesn’t seem as clever a ‘hitman’ film as Linklater probably imagined it to be on paper, his attempt should provide some cursory pleasures, fashioning a mildly transgressive romance between a fake contract killer working for the police and his client.
Review #2,844
Dir. Richard Linklater
2023 | USA | Comedy, Crime, Romance | 115 min | 2.39:1 | English
M18 (Netflix rating) for language throughout, sexual content and some violence
Cast: Glen Powell, Adria Arjona, Austin Amelio
Plot: A mild-mannered professor moonlighting as a fake hitman in police stings ignites a chain reaction of trouble when he falls for a potential client.
Awards: Nom. for Best Leading Actor – Comedy/Musical (Golden Globes); Official Selection (Venice & Toronto)
Distributor: Netflix
Accessibility Index
Subject Matter: Moderate – Contract Killing; Unintended Consequences; Deception
Narrative Style: Slightly Complex
Pace: Slightly Slow
Audience Type: Slightly Mainstream
Viewed: Netflix
Spoilers: No
Leave it to Richard Linklater to make a ‘hitman’ film that is more of an anti-genre treatise, fashioning a mildly transgressive romance between a fake contract killer working for the authorities and a woman who wants to make her abusive husband disappear forever.
Eschewing the darkly offbeat precision of David Fincher’s The Killer (2023), also streamable on Netflix, Hit Man is light, occasionally funny, sometimes dull, but similarly existential.
Glen Powell plays Gary, a college professor with a part-time gig with the local police. He is suddenly thrust into the role of a pseudo-hitman, secretly meeting up with folks who need help in ‘offing’ someone and thus recording incriminating evidence against them… until he encounters Madison (Adria Arjona), the abovementioned lady.
While it goes into interesting territory plot-wise, Hit Man doesn’t seem as witty or clever a film as Linklater probably imagined it to be on paper.
“I don’t want to almost get killed either.”
From moment to moment, a bit of lethargy often creeps in, either in pacing or from its stilted dialogue. But from act to act as the plot thickens, Hit Man mostly works, though it might not seem ultimately rewarding.
Based on a true story, albeit with some self-confessed fabrications, Linklater’s work is that odd, easy-going film that purports to deconstruct the concept of the contract killer, but that never rises above the level of plot.
Hence, thematically, while there is some discourse (not least conveniently through scenes of Gary sharing his perspectives in his classes) on human psychology and personal identity, these thematic elements don’t quite play out deeply through the characters’ actions or motivations.
Go check out Kaurismaki’s I Hired a Contract Killer (1990) if you are interested in another existential ‘hitman’ film with gallows humour as a depressed man hires a professional killer to kill himself but realises he wants to live instead.
Grade: B
Trailer:
Music:
Eternality Tan