Review: "Hit Man" – Richard Linklater

A new release has come to Netflix from the reliably thoughtful director of Dazed and Confused, Before Sunrise, and Boyhood, Richard Linklater. In Hitman, Linklater teams up with fellow Austinite Glen Powell to pen an off-kilter romantic comedy that ruminates on the notion of identity.

The plot concerns Gary Johnson (Powell), a college professor by profession who moonlights as a technician on undercover police stings of people attempting to hire a hitman. When the usual detective who goes undercover, Jasper (Austin Amelio), cannot perform a job due to a suspension for police brutality, Gary is thrown in as a replacement.

Surprising everybody (including himself) Gary performs ably in the role of an undercover cop and is given the responsibility for more operations to follow. These scenes of Gary going through each unique character designed for the specific operation provide Powell the stage to deliver a masterwork in comic performance.

The scenes of the sting operations are contrasted with Gary's life as a philosophy professor where we see the true nerdy persona he has developed over the years awkwardly pontificate on the movie's themes of identity and self-determination.

In one operation, he is set up with Madison Figueroa Masters (Adria Arjona), an abused woman plotting the assignation of her husband. In this sting, Gary takes on the persona of Ron, a Brad Pitt-esque hitman that takes pity on Madison and advises her to not go through with the murder.

Gary (as Ron) and Madison begin dating soon after and Gary finds that he likes being Ron more than being himself. But, when Madison's husband shows up dead, Gary is left wondering who Madison is and who is he when he's with her. He finds himself juggling his anxiety, his persona, his relationship, and the investigation into the murder while trying to figure out where he ends and Ron begins.

The movie is at its most interesting thematically in these moments when it's asking questions about the "as if" principle. The idea being that if we pretend to be somebody we eventually become that person. Dramatically, it's at its best in the scenes between the three principal characters – Ron, Madison, and the returning Jasper, who becomes suspicious of his co-worker and starts investigating his double dealings.

Linklater's direction is typically understated and invasive as it allows his and Powell's script to play itself out. Powell has been receiving the majority of the praise for his performance as Gary, but Adria Arjona and Austin Amelio are just as impressive when concealing their character's motives and delivering their heightened, but thoughtful performances.

The only drawback is the overuse of the philosophy scenes which announce the themes too heavily and lean Linklater to his worst over-philosophizing instincts. The film doesn't need that, it's best being a rom-com with dark comedy and philosophizing only adds pretense.

Rating: 4/5.

Watch if you enjoyed: Sightseers (2012).