You know the film. It’s a film you have never heard of. The cast might be composed of actors you know and love or complete unknowns. A documentary that sounds interesting about a topic you might like. You stumble across it on streaming and wonder if it will be worth two hours of your time. This series will be devoted to reviewing films like these, the strange items that pop up when you are looking for a flick on the streaming service of your choice. This is “We Found It On Streaming”
FILM: Hit Man
Release Date: May 24, 2024
Run Time: 115 Minutes.
Streaming Service(s): Netflix
Rating: Rated R for language throughout, sexual content and some violence.
Glen Powell is having a moment. Between roles in Top Gun: Maverick and this year’s Twisters, he has become Hollywood’s latest version of the next big thing. A lot of these actors flame out, but Hit Man shows that Powell might be the real thing.
Powell stars as Gary Johnson, a nebbishy college processor and electronics wiz who helps out the New Orleans Police Department in his spare time. He mostly works in the surveillance van, but one day, when the undercover cop named Jasper (Austin Amelio) he works with is suspended, Gary has to take over pretending to be a hit man in order to catch people looking to hire a killer.
To everyone’s surprise, especially Gary’s, he is very good at his new job. As such, Gary is tapped to take over the undercover work until Jasper get off suspension. Creating a new, specific hit man tailored to each suspect, all housed under a bolder identity of “Ron,” he gains a who lot of arrests–and a lot of self-esteem–pretending to be an assassin. However, when he meets a woman named Madison (Adria Arjona) who wants to hire Ron to get rid for her controlling and abusive husband, things go a little haywire. Ron feels a connection with Madison, and vice versa. The attraction causes Gary to go off the script, and a dangerous series of events develops in the most darkly comedic sense possible.
Powell co-wrote the film with director Richard Linklater (I sense a trend of the best directors of the 90’s finding a new home on streaming) based on a true story of a Houston professor who moonlighted as an undercover officer, working on about 300 murder-for-hire cases. The film takes huge liberties with reality once Madison enters the picture, but that is a fairly quirky real-life premise to start out with.
The script by Powell and Linklater is a good one. It is a taut story, where the stakes escalate logically and there are twists and turns around every corner. But it always still remembers it is a comedy, with many chuckle-worthy moments. The pair creates an even tone throughout, which is absolutely vital in a dark comedy such as this.
Powell also does a good job in front of the screen as well. He plays the Gary/Ron dynamic well, balancing the nerdy Gary with the more confident Ron well, and does a well when the two personas start to blend together as the film goes on. It’s not an easy role to play, but Powell makes it look easy, never dropping into stereotypes or other shortcuts. Since he is the lynch pin the whole movie revolves around, Powell is a big part of why the film is so good.
Another reason lies in Adria Arjona. She has a lot more to do in the film than the last time we saw her in the column. And she is very good in what she has to do. Granted, she is given a well-written part to work with, Linklater and Powell do not let her fall into the typical “femme fatale” or “babe in the woods” stereotypes you typically find female parts in these types of film. Madison is written as a woman dealing with some extraordinary circumstances. And Arjona plays it well. You believe you are watching a real human being struggling with these plot points. And her chemistry with Powell is undeniable.
The supporting cast is small yet able. Retta does a good job as Gary’s direct superior, Claudette. But special notice should be made of Austin Amelio’s performance as Jasper, the man Gary replaced as an undercover operative. Amelio plays Jasper with a smarmy confidence and a slimy demeanor that befits the way the character is written. You always know he’s a bad cop, but you never know what kind of bad until he shows his hand as the movie progresses. That is a credit to Amelio’s performance.
Full disclosure: This film had a brief, two-week limited release in theaters before it came to Netflix. So, it didn’t come directly from streaming, but it was pretty darn close. I don’t know if anyone reading this holds the fealty of this column’s title to heart, but I just want to be honest with you all.
Hit Man is a good film, especially if you like dark comedies. It features well drawn characters performed by great actors. And it is a sign that Glen Powell might be the next big thing who actually becomes a big thing for a long time. I recommend this film highly.
Have you found a film on streaming that you’d like us to look at? Leave it in the comments and it might appear in a future installment of this feature.
