June 10, 2024 · Watch the official trailer
How does Hollywood expect to create new movie stars if they won’t allow them to grow organically on the big screen?
While it’s true that audiences got to see Texan Glen Powell in last year’s “Anyone But You” and will see him in IMAX with the upcoming sequel “Twisters,” perhaps the best performance in the up-and-coming star’s career was woefully dropped onto Netflix with little fanfare this past weekend.
A collaboration with Austin-based director Richard Linklater, “Hit Man” stars Powell as a college professor who gets involved in the world of contract killing by pretending to be a hitman for hire as part of sting operations with the police.
“Hit Man” is the second iteration of Linklater adapting a scintillating Texas Monthly article for cinematic purposes after 2011’s “Bernie” starring Jack Black and Shirley Maclaine became an indie cult favorite.
With a bit more production value and larger backing, “Hit Man” evokes a lot of the same quirks one might come to expect from a Linklater comedy but with a lot more swagger and charm.
The centerpiece of the entire film, Powell is wildly complex for such a simple character as his natural charisma is perfectly offset by a more meek, seemingly insignificant man named Gary. When Gary transforms into the hitman characters he portrays in sting operations, a light goes off in Gary’s eyes that allows Powell to take on a world of personas that are heightened iterations of Gary’s fantasies along with truly psychological assessments of the targets he pursues.
There’s a depth of substance and nuance to Powell’s performance and the way that the character of Gary is written in the screenplay that one usually wouldn’t expect to find in such an easygoing dramedy. Powell and Linklater do a terrific job of bringing this vivid character to life that almost supersedes the rest of the entire film.
Perhaps the best part of Powell’s seamless transformation is the ways in which his physicality changes almost on a dime. After Gary’s first time playing a contract killer ends, the immediate slumping of the shoulders and fragile timidness of his stance and gait allows viewers to see Gary relax and also recoil in fear over what he’s done.
The meekest, comical ways in which Powell turns on and off the faucet of hitman bravado and confidence really are small, yet standout moments in the film that help bring a sense of plausibitity to how the introverted Gary could find a romantic connection with someone totally out of his league.
In her biggest role to date as Gary’s love interest and occasional antagonist Madison, Adria Arjona is a decent enough foil to Powell and the chemistry the two share onscreen together seems plausible even though Powell is so singular and dynamic that it feels somewhat disjointed.
Most of the rest of the ensemble cast is largely forgettable, save for small moments in the third act and the true purpose of “Hit Man” is Powell continuing to show his ability to carry the lead of a successful film.
Linklater directs confidently, but in a very hands-off way that keeps Powell’s dynamic performance at the center of the frame at all times. For a comedy film about contract killers, there’s far less action and practically no violence in “Hit Man,” which places the filmmaker at a disadvantage to create visual spectacle, however, the film simply doesn’t need it.
For an adult dramedy begging to be seen with an audience in a large theater, it’s a shame that “Hit Man” will woefully lack the group laughter it should have generated. But the dynamic Powell is a star in the making here and cinephiles need to catch “Hit Man” on the streaming service this week.
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