Hit Man (2024)

Richard Linklater is a highly respected film maker and with very good reason; I'm not sure there's a single one of his film that I've seen that I've not at the very least, really liked. His latest, a blackly comedic, at times screwball comedy, certainly isn't as ambitious as some of his decades sprawling pieces in the past (Boyhood [2012], the Before Trilogy [1995-2013]) but a more playful piece of work, falling in with something like Bernie (2011) or even outright comedy at times, as in School of Rock (2003). Glen Powell rather brilliantly plays a mild-mannered liberal arts professor who also volunteers for the police, helping them with audio surveillance equipment as they send undercover 'hitmen' to trap individuals who believe they are hiring the real thing to take out various individuals. As Linklater himself has said, the idea of a 'hitman' is exactly that, something that doesn't actually exist in real life. Gary (Powell) is promoted to being the police's 'hitman' after the original one (a very amusing Austin Amelia) is suspended after beating up some teenagers, and proves so good at the job that he gets it full time. Things begin to go awry when he takes a shine to one of his 'clients', Madison, (Adria Arjona) who wants her abusive husband terminated and Gary talks her out of it- irritating the police and setting himself up for troubles down the line when he begins to spend time with her and somewhat predictably falls in love with her. Powell is so good in the role that he sweeps you along in his own nonsense, but this is all deliberate on Linklater's part, and it results in some laugh out loud moments, something Linklater has always been well capable of producing. Hit Man ends up being more of a comedy than anything else, the thriller element doesn't really stick with the lack of emotional heft that's offered up- there's not really a sense of jeopardy and you kind of know how it's going to end, but it doesn't prevent you from enjoying the journey that gets you there. The film's ending is a real misstep however, and sets down a genuinely confusing element. It's almost as if the ending assumes we've been watching a completely different film to this point, and simply doesn't work- it's a genuinely baffling finale that is completely at odds with the rest of the film's tone. It's a shame because up until that point Hit Man is an enjoyable, very well written comedy, and is solid Linklater rather than spectacular. But solid Linklater is still better than most people's spectacular, and Hit Man proves that he can still bring something impressive to the table, even when he's not at his best. 7.2/10