“Hit Man,” the latest film from “Dazed and Confused” director Richard Linklater, made its U.S. premiere at Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Square on Oct. 3 as a part of the 61st New York Film Festival (NYFF). The experience of attending the festival is worthwhile enough, but it certainly helps when viewing a film as enjoyable as this.
The comedy-action film is declared by the opening credits to “kind of” be based on a true story. A loose adaptation of Texas Monthly writer Skip Hollandsworth’s 2001 profile, “Hit Man” follows a man who leads a double life as a psychology professor and an undercover contract killer for the Houston police department.
The main conflict kicks off when Maddy (Adria Arjona) solicits Gary’s services to kill her abusive husband (Evan Holtzman). Due to her kind demeanor, Gary discourages her from moving forward with her plan and instead recommends that she get a divorce and move on with her life. The two begin a romantic relationship, leading Gary to begin to get tangled up in a web of lies associated with his double life.
The script probes the dark and delusional corners of humanity, where one chooses to deal with their life circumstances by blindly trusting a stranger to kill a human being in exchange for payment.
Hollandsworth and Linklater, in their first collaboration since 2011’s “Bernie,” take the script’s comedic premise from the 2001 profile and exaggerate the pulpier elements of the story while deconstructing the Hollywood myth of the “hit man.”
A standout montage early in the film sees Powell meeting with clients in a variety of establishments, donning tough-guy outfits and spouting fake strategies for body disposal. It is these scenes that are most faithful to the source material and help to highlight the comedic elements.
The script probes the dark and delusional corners of humanity, where one chooses to deal with their life circumstances by blindly trusting a stranger to kill a human being in exchange for payment. This money eventually serves as the proof of solicitation that consigns these otherwise ordinary people to a life behind bars.
If this description sounds similar to another gritty crime thriller, rest assured that Linklater’s breezy humor and unpretentious style is utilized to great effect here. During the question-and-answer session that followed the film, Linklater discussed how he wanted to merge the noir detective story with the screwball comedy. The story’s inclusion of a “femme fatale” character in the form of Maddy highlights the influence of the noir genre.
Throughout the rest of the film, the audience experiences the tension between Gary’s two identities. This is demonstrated well in a sequence that crosscuts between his philosophical lecture about the id and the ego and his romantic and faux-criminal escapades. Viewers see how far Gary has disappeared into “Ron,” the fake hit man persona he uses around Maddy, as he starts to get his facts mixed up with the police. They also see his frequent contact with Maddy as a conflict of interest, but he just cannot help himself.
What was once an obligation has become an absurd, twisted roleplaying exercise where he gets to embody someone much more confident and spontaneous than himself.
“Hit Man” concludes on a morally gray note that may shock some viewers, but I found it darkly hilarious and an enjoyable subversion to expectations.
The film — co-written by Powell — makes unique use of the actor’s talents, simultaneously convincing the audience that he is a divorced, bird-watching, cat-owning, glasses-wearing dork, as well as a hunky, overprotective boyfriend. One could say he steals the show, but this would discredit how generous of a performer he is.
In the scene that will probably be most widely remembered from the film, he goes to Maddy’s house and yells at her — knowing they might be recorded — while communicating advice to her through the Notes app on his iPhone. Her character is forced to improvise on the spot while responding to his direction. The two animatedly play off each other’s chemistry before reaching a rousing conclusion that received much applause in my theater.
There are few real movie stars left, actors whose talent and onscreen charisma encourage audiences to flock to the theater no matter what they are in. After what he accomplishes in this role, I think Powell should be considered among them.
Filling out the film’s supporting cast are Retta and Sanjay Rao, who help to ground the story’s whackier elements. While they are likable presences in “Hit Man,” the two resemble comic relief sidekicks on top of an already amusing central narrative and do not have a lot of individual interiority. Separate from this is Jasper (Austin Amelio), however, the undercover cop who was suspended and replaced by Gary, whose character evolves nicely and serves as a semi-antagonistic force.
“Hit Man” concludes on a morally gray note that may shock some viewers, but I found it darkly hilarious and an enjoyable subversion to expectations. If not for Netflix’s poor promotion of their original content and tendency to reject wide theatrical releases, I am positive the film would do well with a large crowd, as it is consistently entertaining and thought-provoking.
With any hope, “Hit Man” will find its audience on the streaming service and become a modern cult classic. A critic can only dream.