You wouldn’t see Gary Johnson coming a mile away. He looks a lot like a classic dweeb with those glasses and terrible haircut — never mind that it’s Glen Powell with his chiseled physique and disarming smile under all of that. Gary likes cats, keeps to himself and is a good college philosophy professor, even if his class doesn’t seem engaged. It might be a stretch to call Gary neurodivergent, but there’s a way he stands just outside the action as an analyst and not a participant that might make you wonder. That and the whole hit man thing.
But Gary’s not a hit man; he just plays one in real life. That’s how he meets the girl of his dreams, Madison (Adria Arjona), and realizes that the true Gary inside isn’t Gary at all. It’s Ron.
You see, Gary moonlights as a technician for the New Orleans Police Department in their undercover department. When the team’s plant, Jasper (Austin Amelio), is placed on administrative leave, Gary gets called up to the show. All he has to do is meet the clients who want to hire a hit man, pretend to be that hit man and get the clients to incriminate themselves. And you know what? Gary is really good at pretending.
With a script by Powell and director Richard Linklater, Hit Man is about a lot of things — identity, behavior, morality, criminality, passion, etc. — all without pretension. You’ll probably describe Hit Man as a romantic comedy when someone asks what kind of movie it is, but they may wonder if your ha-ha meter is slightly twisted when you recount the plot.
Here’s that plot: Gary is so effective as a fake hit man that he becomes NOPD’s go-to plant. Gary takes pride in his work, studies the clients in great detail and presents as the contract killer they need. For one client, it’s a tatted-up anarchist. For another, it’s an unnerving, quiet-talking psychopath who looks like he stepped out of Silence of the Lambs. For Madison, it’s the good-bad man, dangerous but chivalrous. His name is Ron, and it doesn’t hurt he looks a lot like Glen Powell.
But therein lies there’s Hit Man’s ultimate flaw: Madison is more a plot device than a full-fledged character. She’s the reason Ron exists — she hires him to rub out her abusive spouse — and she’s the reason Ron unlocks something within Gary. Ron also unlocks something within Madison, but Hit Man isn’t as interested in exploring that part of the equation. Arjona gives a good performance, simultaneously seductive and vulnerable, but it’s a supporting performance in a narrative that calls for a true duet.
But none of this, even the scenes where Gary teaches philosophy, are served with strum und drang. Linklater is the king of easy-going cool — slightly detached but always inquisitive. Hit Man blows by like a warm summer breeze with plenty of smiles and just as many chuckles. It’s only afterward that you realize how much is going on.
On Screen: Hit Man is available to stream on Netflix.
