30/05/24

Cineworld, Edinburgh

Here’s that increasingly rare creature, a Netflix original movie that’s actually been given a theatrical release before being dumped onto streaming. Hit Man is a curious creation, loosely based on the career of the recently deceased Gary Johnson, a University lecturer from New Orleans who also had a sideline working for the local police department as a fake contract killer. As you do. Wearing a wire, he would meet with potential ’employers’, accept their money and coax them into confessing their desire to pay him to murder somebody… on tape.

It’s best not to dig too deeply on that score. Suffice to say that this is a witty, amoral confection which travels to some unexpected places, mostly because it doesn’t bother sticking too closely to the truth.

Johnson (Glen Powell) finds himself taking over the fake hit man role from his police colleague, Jasper (a wonderfully seedy performance by Austin Amelio), and, though initially reluctant to do so, Johnson quickly discovers that his background in philosophy has equipped him to be really good at the different roles he has to take on, each one tailored to appeal to his latest client. It all goes swimmingly until he encounters Maddy Masters (Adria Arjona), who wants to call down a hit on her husband, Ray (Evan Holtzman), who appears to be a thoroughly nasty piece of work.

Sensing that she’s headed for trouble – and at the same time, powerfully attracted to her – Johnson talks her out of going through with the hit and ends up having a wild affair with her, allowing her to continue in the belief that he is actually ‘Ron’, a professional contract killer.

Powell, who has been hotly tipped to become a major star ever since his supporting role in Top Gun: Maverick, is undeniably watchable here, inhabiting a whole range of different personas with considerable aplomb. As if that wasn’t enough, he also co-wrote the screenplay with veteran director Richard Linklater. Arjona, too, seems destined for bigger things, managing to make us care about a character we’d probably be best advised to steer clear of if we met her in real life.

As Hit Man twists and turns through a series of increasingly problematic situations, I find myself both entertained and puzzled. The script takes great pains to assure me that hit men are a fictional invention (Linklater even includes a sequence showing some memorable ‘hits’ from famous films across the decades). But if this is true, should we really be prosecuting people who attempt to hire them? Isn’t that entrapment? Or does an attempt to hire a killer automatically make the hirer guilty?

One other thought. Where do hit men advertise their services? The Times? Exchange and Mart?

Whatever the case, this film is funny, intelligent and well worth catching on the big screen, providing you can find a cinema near you that’s showing it. If you’re happy to stream it, you won’t have long to wait.

4.2 stars

Philip Caveney