A professor moonlighting as a hit man of sorts for his city police department, descends into dangerous, dubious territory when he finds himself attracted to a woman who enlists his services.
Chuck says:
Directed by Richard Linklater, Hitman is an inspired-by-fact dark comedy that gives Glen Powell the opportunity to show his range and make the case he’s worthy of the great expectations surrounding him. Employing a wry tone from the start, we see meek professor Gary Johnson (Powell) thrown into a dangerous situation. Moonlighting as a surveillance technician for the New Orleans Police Department, a stake-out goes awry and suddenly he’s called upon to go undercover. Posing as a hitman, he meets up with a variety of people looking for a hired killer, their desires recorded by a hidden microphone, charges brought against them soon after.
What proves most intriguing is the duality of Johnson’s character. In his college classes, he teaches Freud’s concepts of the id, ego and superego as well as other theories regarding identity. He espouses his students to question the mystery of human consciousness and challenges them to explore other aspects of their personality. Before you can say, “Physician, heal thyself,” Johnson is experimenting with a wide variety of personae when meeting his marks. He uses wigs, makeup and contact lenses to alter his appearance while employing a variety of accents, running the gamut from suave European assassin to good-ole-boy bayou killer.
It’s obvious Powell is having great fun assuming these various guises, approaching each with an arch sense of humor. The cast of characters he brings to life is incredibly diverse, each representing a different aspect of Johnson’s personality, a surprisingly smart approach. In the end, he picks and chooses various aspects from his many identities, all of them coalescing in Ron, Johnson’s id come to life. Confident and cool, he’s able to handle every situation with a slick assurance that’s beguiling, especially to Madison (Adria Arjona), who hunts our hero up as she has a husband she wants to get rid of.
There’s a spark between the two leads that’s palpable, a great asset when the film starts to seem a bit too long and suddenly more complicated than it has to be. Still, there’s a lot of humor between the two as they navigate the various lies they tell one another, as well as Johnson’s colleagues, who start to realize maybe their friend is in over his head.
I doubt Hit Man will be the film to make Powell a household name. Yet, the actor’s talent is obvious, but the key will be that he continues to challenge himself with a variety of roles as well as work with directors as talented as Linklater. By doing so, Powell may just be able to justify the hype. 3 1/2 Stars
