Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: HIT MAN [Sundance Film Festival 2024 - Park City, Utah]

Glen Powell has seemingly found an interestng balance as a leading man. "Hit Man"[Spotlight], made before "Anyone But You" came out, is a character piece wrapped in a romantic comedy of sorts. Like "You", which has become a sleeper hit because of word of mouth, "Hit Man" works because Powell knows how to turn on the charm and doesn't mind making a bit of fool of himself...and yet he is redeemed in a way at most points. His play here is a little more flamboyant and dress up but still keeps in his structure. What makes this work once it gets going is Adria Arjona as a mark turned love interest. The concept of the film basically is that Powell plays Gary Johnson, a real life figure who would impersonate being a hitman to ensnare would-be criminals before they get a chance to complete a certain transaction. Johnson, by his own admission as Powell, is a bookish teacher who found something liberating in what he is able to be. We see a small glimpse of his first marriage and why it failed. However, as a comparison to a rom com like "You" which is more broad strokes, "Hit Man" becomes about the lies that we tell and how much what people absorb is based on if that can be backed up with an actual person or situation.

"Hit Man" builds to that point having Johnson become more like one of his characters Ron. It works in genreal but it feels more like a TV comedy at times and less a movie. One scene though in particular towards the end was phenomenal just because the timing of both Arjona and Powell were on because they were doing two separate things together back and forth at the same time. It did get some cheers in the theater. The chemistry between the two is also great, better at many times than with Sweeney because that one played too much on the age gap. Here both characters have baggage but Arjona knows how to turn it on and off, and Powell, in many ways (and like usual) looks happy to be along for the ride. The ending itself has a problems because the film in many ways, asks the viewer to take story elements at face value but it is what it is. Powell himself wrote the screenplay with Richard Linklater who also directed. However, the sensibility of the film itself skews back and forth. Linklater's normal Austin is supplanted by New Orleans but there never really seems to be a sense of place or really of danger in the proceedings. They wanted to make something akin to the Coen Brothers, and while effective at many points, "Hit Man" doesn't light the genre afire (though again the chemistry of the two leads is undeniable). B

By Tim Wassberg