The charming 'Hit Man' overcomes his own identity crisis

The Nature of Identity: Essential Questions of “Who Am I?” and “Why am I the way I am?” – is the heady stuff of philosophy seminars and late-night self-realizations. In Richard Linklater's new film, “Hit Man,” it's also the basis for a light-hearted romantic comedy crime story.

From their hit “Slacker” to the most recent “Everybody Wants Some!!” Linklater has long had a knack for making films that seem inconsequential, even lazy, but reveal a furtive depth, curiosity, and insight into what it is to be alive. As he's gotten older, Linklater's modest confidence as a filmmaker has become even sharper. This is how something like “Hit Man,” which at first glance seems like a flub, can also address some of the deepest mysteries of the human condition.

But even that may be getting us a little ahead of ourselves. The film is, above all, an example of the powerful charisma, screen presence and chemistry of its two stars, Glen Powell and Adria Arjona. Powell co-wrote the script with Linklater, based on a Texas Monthly article by Skip Hollandsworth, whose work also served as the basis for Linklater's “Bernie.” Here Powell and Linklater use the true story of one Gary Johnson as a fun starting point in a story that begins as someone who needs a second job.

In this particular narrative, Johnson (Powell) teaches psychology and philosophy at a small college in New Orleans, supplementing his quiet, isolated life by using his knack for technology to help the local police department carry out undercover operations to capture people trying to hire a hitman. (In the film and elsewhere, Linklater has forcefully made the wild claim that hitman is an occupation that doesn't actually exist.) One day, circumstances find Gary stepping in as the fake killer, and it turns out he has a knack for performance art.

Gary then begins to assume a series of characters tailored to each potential client, until he meets Madison (Arjona), a meek woman seeking freedom from her oppressive and possibly abusive husband. For her, Gary constructs Ron, a handsome, swaggering guy with a carefree insouciance and a hint of real danger. (Imagine someone like, I don't know, rising movie star Glen Powell, who has been equally at home in the action spectacle of “Top Gun: Maverick” and the romantic comedy silliness of “Anyone but You ” and will soon be seen in one of this summer's blockbusters, “Twisters”).

Gary (as Ron) goes against protocol and convinces Madison to use the money she was going to spend to kill her husband and start a new life instead. Which she quickly does, and she takes up things her husband hates, like volunteering at a pet rescue center, letting her hair fall in loose, natural waves, and wearing short skirts that hug her figure. she. And she approaches Ron to thank him for pointing her in the right direction.

Madison likes Ron. Gary likes Ron. It seems like everyone likes Ron, so Gary begins to adopt more of Ron into his own personality. Which only gets more confusing as he (Gary, as Ron) starts seeing more of Madison. They both finally get to be the people they always wanted to be, until things get even more complicated when her asshole soon-to-be ex-husband turns up dead.

Adria Arjona and Glen Powell in the movie “Hit Man”.

(Brian Roedel/Netflix)

This is where the film's own identity crisis comes into play. As it hints at darker notions of what one is genuinely capable of doing and how you live with yourself afterwards, the film's tone cannot be sustained and the film drags as it obediently fleshes out the details of its plot mechanics. That is until a spectacular scene arrives (pauses of applause have been reported at numerous festival screenings) in which Gary and Madison arrange an argument between Madison and Ron for the sake of audio surveillance to prove their innocence while operating in multiple personality levels at the same time. , saying one thing with their mouth while portraying something completely different with their eyes and body. It's the hottest thing in a movie that also features old-fashioned adult sex scenes.

Arjona matches Powell step for step in the scene and throughout the film. Her performance adds an extra layer of mystery in that it's never entirely clear whether she's a manipulative femme fatale, a damsel in distress, or a woman simply trying to figure herself out. (Or maybe even all of those things.) While the film may be further confirmation of Powell's bona fides as a movie star, Arjona should not be overlooked; It is hoped that this role will serve as a calling card for more leading roles.

Then there's a whole additional metatextual layer to “Hit Man,” in that it's streaming on Netflix after a nominal, limited theatrical release. If one of the industry's newest and seemingly most bankable movie stars can't get a proper wide-scale release for a sexy crime comedy, what's Hollywood doing with itself?

And yet, regardless of where or how you watch it, “Hit Man” is an undeniably good time. Sometimes, all you really need is a pair of incredibly attractive people enjoying each other's company, captured by a filmmaker who knows when to stay out of each other's way. And if that's not a movie, then I don't know what is.