The life of a faux hit man

 

   I'm generally sympathetic to movies that arrive without proclaiming themselves to be major cultural landmarks.

   Although it played at the 2023 Venice Film Festival, director Richard Linklater’s Hit Man arrives without a pushy pedigree. It does,  however, have a taste for devious fun, which turns out to be better than a ton of hyped-up flash.

    Based on a true story adapted from an article in Texas Monthly, Hit Man introduces us to Gary Johnson (Glenn Powell), a college professor who does gig work for the New Orleans Police Department. 

   Sitting in a truck equipped with recorders, Johnson joins a team that documents sting operations that nab those looking to hire killers to solve their problems.

   The movie’s major twist occurs early on. Johnson is asked to fill in for a detective (Austin Amelio) who built his reputation by posing as a hitman, but who has been suspended for using excessive force. 

   Powell gives an engaging performance as a philosophy professor who blossoms when he assumes different identities -- adopting new attitudes along with them. He learns that every encounter requires a pitch-perfect performance. He brings a lively imagination to the task, and his life is energized by  newfound success.

    Angry that he's been replaced by a "non-professional," Amelio's Jasper never joins the Johnson fan club. He represents potential trouble.

   Complications arise, and it's here that the movie presumably veers from Johnson’s real-life story. In Linklater’s telling, Johnson falls for Maddy (Adria Arjona), a woman who wants him to kill her abusive husband. 

   Instead of busting Maddy, Johnson tells her to leave the lout.  He's infatuated, and we know that sex and love will follow -- not with Gary Johnson but with his cool alter-ego hitman, Ron.

  Johnson's on a slippery slope: He begins to become the roles he's playing, a kind of quiet endorsement of the fake-it-'til-you-make-it school of philosophy. Can the ruse be sustained? How and when might it all blow up? 

   Linklater plays with issues of identity, dangles red herrings, and piles on twists — not all of them credible. But Powell’s appealing string of poses and ploys keep Linklater’s Hit Man on an entertaining track.