While I only managed to get a grand total of one ticket for London Film Festival, I wasn't all that disappointed because the one ticket I did get was for the screening of director/writer Richard Linklater's (Boyhood, Before Sunrise, School of Rock) new movie, Hit Man. As a fan of lead actor and co-writer Glen Powell (Set it Up, Top Gun: Maverick, Devotion), the initial critical reactions had me incredibly excited, and so it was the only LFF movie I was super keen on watching - especially because of the uncertainty around its theatrical release, what with its sale to Netflix.
Synopsis
An undercover Houston police officer poses as a hitman to arrest those trying to hire him until he tries to save a woman in need.
Richard Linklater's introduction
After only glimpsing the back of his head upon my entrance to the Southbank Center, I was treated to a better look at Linklater when he came out to introduce the film. He briefly called out his writing process with Glen Powell, the co-writer and main lead of the movie. They were inspired by the real life story of Gary Johnson, and also by classic film noirs like Double Indemnity, but with a screwball twist. He also agreed that this would make a great double feature with 2011's Bernie, his other foray into comedic true crime starring Jack Black. Unlike that movie, Hit Man veers off into its own (less factual) story, but still takes inspiration from real life interviews and facts.
My review (I loved it)
Living in the UK, I can't remember the last time I was in a cinema where the audience were so on board with a comedy. Even the smallest jokes drew a huge laugh from the crowd, and I overheard a fair few people afterwards saying what an unexpected delight the movie was.
The first thing I have to highlight is Glen Powell who - apart from co-writing a funny, tight script - delivers an absolutely incredible performance, and one of my favourite comedic roles in recent years. (Ryan Gosling has some tough competition for funniest male performance this year, and that's saying something.) Powell gets to have a lot of fun flitting between different personas - which poke fun at stereotypical hitmen of pop culture - while always retaining the less confident core of his character threaded through every moment. It's that push and pull between his hitman persona and his real personality that makes this performance so fun, and Powell drew huge laughs with the smallest of his expressions. There were times that he reminded me of a young Brad Pitt or Tom Cruise (and that makes me so so excited for his upcoming role in the sequel to Twister!)
Adria Arjona (Andor, Good Omens) also delivers a great performance, and - as an aside- the pair join the 'most gorgeous 2 people have looked in a movie' list in my books. Their chemistry explodes off the screen (...an unfortunately rare occurrence in Hollywood these days). In fact, there was one particular scene, with the pair quickly exchanging dialogue back and forth, which captured a sense of modern screwball energy in the absolute best way. The scene concludes with a quick wink from Powell on his way out of the room, and the audience exploded into applause. It's the type of experience you'd never get watching it at home. (
The rest of the film is small-scale with few supporting characters, but that works well for the story being told. The script is tight and carefully paced, and there's little to no bloat which I was thankful for (more films under 2 hours please and thank you!). There's another universe where this story is told in a more conventional biopic style, and while that might have portrayed more detail about the character and history, it likely wouldn't have been nearly as entertaining. Linklater's directorial style is warm and comedic, wringing out every bit of humour from each scene and supporting performance. As mentioned at the start, the movie would be a perfect double feature with Bernie; both are movies that slot nicely into the 'Fargo' box, about eccentric, American based true crime told with a heavy dose of creative license. Where Bernie was a dark comedy wrapped up in small-town crime drama, Hit Man is more of a blend between true crime and a dark rom-com.
The Netflix of it all...
Back in September, Netflix bought Hit Man film for $20 million - a few of the producers were even present at our screening. One thing I really hope they took away from it was just how much the crowd experience added to this movie - I don't think the jokes will land quite as hard at home. I think a theatrical release, while unlikely, would be great. I remembering someone writing that the reason we don't have as many bona fide movie stars anymore is because any star vehicles get dumped into the endless shuffle of streaming. It happened just last year with Prey, a film that deserved a theatrical release in my opinion. On the brighter side, if the marketing gains traction, I hope this movie finds a big audience through Netflix. It definitely deserves it - it's one of the best films of 2023.
Hit Man is coming soon to Netflix.