Hit Man

Available on Netflix

Few filmmakers possess a body of work as versatile as that of Richard Linklater. His latest feature is further proof of a pleasing propensity for change that, at the very least, keeps audiences guessing about what’s coming next from a director that has delivered classics as varied as Dazed and Confused, the Before trilogy, and School of Rock. 

Hit Man, co-written with leading man Glenn Powell, reinforces Linklater’s interest in narratives that are both stranger than fiction but ingrained in enough everyday ordinariness to be just about believable. In this case, we follow Gary Johnson (Powell), a real-life university professor who moonlit as a fake hitman for the New Orleans Police Department, and his fictitious attempts to save Adria Arjona’s femme fatale.

The role of Johnson is an absolute godsend for Powell, who is able to demonstrate a range that other recent projects such as Top Gun: Maverick and Anyone But You did not elicit. Although his and Linklater’s screenplay flirt with philosophical questions of ego and identity without meaningfully embellishing them, the chameleonic nature of Johnson’s existence gives Powell license to deliver a performance that ensures Hit Man is a more satisfying watch than it perhaps otherwise might have been.   

With Arjona also in fine form, there is enough sizzle to this odd romcom to make it an engaging addition to Netflix’s carousel of star-studded summer releases, if little else.