Glen Powell and Richard Linklater’s “Hit Man” Doesn’t Miss

Richard Linklater’s latest film, Hit Man, deserved better.

Starring Glen Powell in his umpteenth breakthrough performance, it tells the story of Gary Johnson, a dweeby college professor in New Orleans, who bores his students with lectures about philosophy and psychology. As a side hustle, Gary moonlights as a technical adviser for sting operations alongside police officers Claudette and Phil (Retta and Sanjay Rao).

Then, one day, Gary is asked at the last minute to pose as a hit man after undercover cop Jasper (Austin Amelio) is suspended for misconduct. His assignment is to entrap someone looking to hire him by getting the client to tell Gary their intentions. To everyone’s surprise, Gary is good at it and he settles into the role quite easily. Or should I say roles, since he keeps doing it, and with every job, he adopts a different persona, amusingly changing his name, his attire, his hair, and his attitude. 

Complications arise when, posing as a cool contract killer named “Ron,” Gary immediately hits it off with a hottie named Maddy (Adria Arjona), who’d like Ron to off her abusive husband. Maddy and Ron’s first interaction starts off as a business meeting, but it’s clear they’re both into each other, and somewhere along the way, it turns into a date.

I won’t spoil any of the twists or turns that result from this, but suffice it to say, it’s here that the film’s main premise of self-discovery really takes off. As Gary keeps shifting between personas in order to pursue a secret relationship with Maddy, the lines begin to blur and it’s unclear to him and to others who he is at any given time. Everyone seems to like Ron more than Gary — even Gary. Heck, even his students begin to pay attention more when they realize their professor has gotten better looking and more confident. So, which identity will eventually win out?

A lesser movie might have taken this premise and infused it with slapsticky situations, not to mention montages of Gary in prosthetics employing one bad accent after another. Not Powell and Linklater, who co-wrote the film (loosely based on a 2001 Texas Monthly article), and who use its conceit to spin a smart story that’s hugely entertaining, one that has something to say about how we all contain multitudes.

While Linklater deserves credit for keeping the film well-paced and grounded, it’s Powell who will likely get more of the praise and the hype. Deservedly so: If you’ve seen him in Everybody Wants Some!! (my favorite movie of 2016), Top Gun: Maverick, or Anyone But You, it will come as no surprise that watching Powell here is a blast — though, it must be said that he’s generally more believable as Ron than he is as Gary. Powell exudes charm, and he has sizzling chemistry with Arjona. It’s also fun to see him bantering again with Amelio, who starred alongside Powell in EWS!!, which Linklater wrote and directed, as well. If those previously mentioned films didn’t make Powell a mainstream star, this one should finally cement his standing.

And that’s just one reason why it’s a shame that most people who see Hit Man will do so by streaming it on their TVs or tablets. Netflix paid $20 million for the film last fall, following a strong showing at the Venice Film Festival, but in typical fashion, they only gave it a limited two-week theatrical release before adding it to their vast collection of films and TV shows. (It begins streaming June 7.)

In a recent interview with the New York Times, Reed Hastings, the co-founder and executive chairman of Netflix, said, “There’s no reason to believe that the movie itself is better in any size of screen for all people.” 

He may not be wrong. Surely, Hit Man will be just as good a movie when watched via streaming. But it deserved the kind of promotion that comes with a wider theatrical release, because believe me when I tell you, on the big screen, with a crowd, this sexy, funny, and thrilling film absolutely killed.

I’m giving Hit Man an A–.