Hit Man

There is so much to like about Richard Linklater’s feel good mash up of noir, rom-com and true life crime drama. It’s easily his most successful film since BoyHood and features at its heart the coolest of stars (Glen Powell) and the hottest femme fatale/damsel in distress (Adria Arjona) whose relationship has such a steamy rapport that I couldn’t help thinking of Lauren Bacall’s siren invitation to Humphrey Boggart; “You know how to whistle dontcha? Just put your lips together and blow.” Powell, who also co wrote the cracking script, plays Glen Johnson; a polymath who is just as at home delivering fluent lectures on Freudian psychology as he is identifying rare birds or fine tuning electronic listening equipment. This last talent is put to good use by the New Orleans Police Department as part of an on-going sting operation to bring to justice people who want to contract out the killing of a business rival, or an errant spouse or whatever. It sounds a lot like entrapment, but apparently it really was a thing around the turn of the millennium. The marble race starts with Glen on a stakeout. He’s dragooned into playing an up front role after his colleague Jasper (Austin Amelio) is suspended for some bit of cop crookery. So with virtually no preparation he’s sent off to meet his mark and tease out the requisite incriminating evidence. Turns out Ron, the alter ego he adopts, is a natural. Posing as a hit man liberates a whole new side to his character; his training on the human condition gives him a unique edge, helped by a naturally quick brain and a smart mouth. What also helps is a flair for disguise through costume and cosmetics, which preserves his anonymity and makes for a series of hilarious confrontations. All of which end up with the hapless culprits posing for mug shots. So far so jolly. Things take a more serious turn when Ron meets Madison (Arjona) who is stuck in an abusive marriage, vulnerable and at the end of her tether. Ron is smitten with this kitten and it unleashes his super ego, which is a nice joke given that Glen’s own two cats are called Ego and Id. To the consternation of his handlers he deliberately fluffs his lines so Madison cannot be arrested and the two are free to explore their own combustible chemistry. Here Powell is a delight, deftly navigating the intertwining personalities of Glen and Ron as they vie for supremacy. There’s a telling scene in the lecture hall when Glen asks his students: “Aren’t we all self constructs; adapting to conditions and presenting different aspects of ourselves depending on who we’re with?” Meanwhile he’s delivering a jaunty voice-over providing commentary on this meta conundrum which counterpoints the increasingly dark goings on. It’s all in the best of noir traditions. Arjona is terrific too as she blossoms from timid roots before igniting some electrically erotic episodes. Their scenes together are a joy, culminating in a pivotal encounter where slapstick and screwball play alongside tense drama all against the background of an especially difficult technical challenge. But it’s in the third act when things get decidedly murkier following the murder of Madison’s husband, that Linklater demonstrates his sureness of his touch. He asks difficult questions about how we should respond to Glen as he becomes steadily more Ron and how Madison should react to Ron when he eventually comes clean about Glen. But by this time the delineation between the two has almost disappeared and you begin to wonder not just about the ethics of under cover policing but also about the corrosive effects this duplicitous behaviour has upon those caught up in it. You begin to think about the infiltration of protest groups in this country by rogue police operatives whose grip on morality is loose, but whose actions are legitimised and enabled by the state. So if you’re in the market for a funny, sexy, dark, head scratching romp, which is broadly true then watch Hitman and remember, “All pie is good pie.”

Rating 19/20

Viewed. 28/5/2024

Screen 2 (D8)