Fresh from his standout supporting turn as Top Gun: Maverick’s cocky fighter ace Hangman (catchphrase: ‘I am good. I’m very good’), Glen Powell gets a chance to show what he can do with a lead role in Richard Linklater’s inspired comedy. And guess what? He’s good. He’s very good.
Powell plays Gary Johnson, a divorced philosophy professor whose sad-sack life is only slightly spiced up by a moonlighting gig with the New Orleans Police Department. Such is his introverted lifestyle that his comically miniscule kitchen table has only one chair. Even his ex-wife is after him to start dating.
Then, when the usual undercover cop is suspended, Gary suddenly finds himself forced to impersonate an assassin-for-hire in a sting operation designed to put enraged wives, jealous husbands and other assorted would-be murderers behind bars. It’s sink or swim and Gary, it turns out, is an Olympic freestyler when it comes to masquerading as a cocksure killers.
Soon, he’s creating elaborate, slightly over-the-top personas tailored to the needs of prospective clients, and posing as everything from ruthless leather-clad Russians to a slicked-back Patrick Bateman-alike to offer help with their ‘little problems’. Abused wife Madison (Adria Arjona) gets ‘Ron’, a smooth, sexy type with, fatally, a weakness for beautiful women. The pair fall into bed and Gary’s secret life spirals out of control.
It reminded me of Office Space – and there’s no higher praise than that
Hit Man’s opening intertitle jokingly warns that this is a ‘somewhat’ true story (its inspiration is an article by Linklater’s Bernie co-writer, Texan journo Skip Hollandsworth), so it needs you to roll with its silliest contrivances – and there are plenty of them. But Linklater and Powell’s deceptively brainy script turns all of them into comedy gold, mixing Jungian ideas about identity with a ready supply of zingers and one or two magnificent set-piece scenes.
Comfortably Linklater’s best movie since Boyhood, Hit Man stands alongside School of Rock for big laughs and good vibes – albeit with a darker streak that slowly kicks in. The supporting cast keep the laughs coming, especially Parks and Recreation’s Retta as a fellow cop dumbfounded by Gary’s surprising acting gifts (‘Okay, Daniel Day!’). It reminded me a little of Office Space – and there’s no higher praise than that.
In cinemas May 24 and on Netflix worldwide Jun 7.