Susan Granger’s review of “Hit Man” (Netflix)
“You have to live passionately – on your own terms,” instructs Gary Johnson (Glenn Powell), a mild-mannered, tech-savvy, psychology/philosophy professor at the University of New Orleans, who moonlights occasionally for local law enforcement, setting up recording/listening devices for their ‘sting’ operations.
One day, while in the audio surveillance truck, he is summoned to fill in for a veteran undercover detective (Austin Amelio) who was caught in a compromising situation. Basically, geeky Gary is told to pretend to be a hitman for hire.
Taking role-playing the cool ‘assassin’ very seriously, Gary stuns his police colleagues (Sanjay Rao, Retta) by scoring successfully from the get-go.
“Forgettable-looking” Gary, who has a goofy grin, has always lived quietly in suburbia with his two cats, named Id and Ego. Driving an unobtrusive Honda Civic, he’s divorced but still friendly with his ex-wife.
Following Nietzsche’s ‘identity’ advice: to live dangerously in order “to harvest from existence the greatest fruitfulness” – a.k.a. ”self-liberation – Gary soon adapts to taking risks to truly embody a cold-blooded contract killer, complete with convincing disguises, accents and backstories.
But then Madison Masters (Adria Arjona), an attractive young ‘femme fatale,’ wants him to kill her abusive, controlling husband. Visibly moved by her plight, Gary – assuming the persona of stud-muffin Ron – breaks protocol and convinces this potential client to abandon that plan.
What happens next becomes a smart, sexy, screwball comedy/crime rom-com, a saucy thriller filled with unexpectedly subversive twists and turns. Does pretending to be someone else long enough change a person? No spoilers here!
Based on Skip Hollingsworth’s article in Oct., 2001’s Texas Monthly, the wildly entertaining, ‘somewhat true’ story was co-scripted by director Richard Linklater (“Dazed and Confused,” “Boyhood,” “School of Rock”) and actor Glen Powell (“Top Gun: Maverick”).
Charismatic 35 year-old Powell, a native of Austin TX, is headed for stardom. Mentored by Tom Cruise, he’s committed to marketing his movies as well as making them – playing a tornado-chaser in “Twisters,” scheduled for July.
“To be a lasting success in Hollywood, you have to make people money,” he told the New York Times. “I find the gamification of the business fun. How do we make a movie that is rewatched and rewatched over decades?”
On the Granger Gauge of 1 to 10, “Hit Man” is a nihilistic ‘noir’ 9, now streaming on Netflix after a limited theatrical release (making it Oscar-eligible).
