Hit Man (2023 film)

Hit Man is a 2023 American romantic comedy film produced and directed by Richard Linklater, who co-wrote the screenplay with Glen Powell. The film stars Powell, Adria Arjona, Austin Amelio, Retta, and Sanjay Rao. It follows an undercover New Orleans police contractor who poses as a reliable hitman as he tries to save a woman in need. The basic premise was based on the true story of a college professor who worked for the Houston police in the late 1980s and 1990s as a fake hitman, as described in a 2001 magazine article by Skip Hollandsworth.

Hit Man premiered at the 80th Venice International Film Festival on September 5, 2023. It was released in select theaters in the United States on May 24, 2024, before its streaming debut by Netflix on June 7, to critical acclaim.

Plot
Gary Johnson is a mild-mannered professor of psychology and philosophy at the University of New Orleans who also works undercover with the New Orleans Police Department to assist in undercover sting operations. When Jasper, a cop who portrays fake hitmen to solicit murder-for-hire confessions and payments from the suspects, is suspended for police brutality, Gary is unwillingly ushered into the role.

Gary quickly finds himself to be a natural in garnering solicitations, going so far as to research suspects in advance and tailor a unique hit man character for each one. He adopts a confident and charismatic persona of a man named Ron for a discontented married woman named Madison, who is trying to have her abusive husband killed. Gary quickly becomes both sympathetic and attracted to her, ultimately refusing the money and suggesting she use it to restart her life, much to the disappointment of Jasper and Gary's other coworkers, Claudette and Phil. Gary later begins a sexual relationship with Madison without revealing his true identity to her. To keep up appearances of being a hitman, Gary shows her how to use a gun, instructing her to aim for the heart.

One night after clubbing, Gary and Madison have a heated encounter with Ray, Madison's ex-husband, which ends with Gary pulling a gun to back him off. Later that night, the couple encounter Jasper, who is suspicious of them being together. A furious Ray attempts to have Madison killed, unknowingly contacting Gary. Upon recognizing Gary as Madison's boyfriend, Ray rushes out of the sting and proclaims that he will kill her himself. Gary informs Madison and attempts to move her out of her house, but she dismisses his fears, stating that Ray wouldn't have the courage to follow through. Gary is later called into work to discuss Ray's murder, and learns he was shot in the heart with bullets belonging to a gun like Madison's. Gary confronts Madison, and she admits to the murder, prompting Gary to reveal his true identity in a panic. After being kicked out by Madison, Gary returns to the police, who reveal their evidence on her is building after discovering Ray increased his life insurance policy before he died. Jasper, who knows of Gary and Madison's relationship and is jealous that Gary took his job, suggests Gary try to solicit a confession out of her using the Ron persona. Gary arrives at Madison's house with a wire and pretends to interrogate her while giving her acting cues typed in on his phone. Their charade convinces the police that she is innocent, but Jasper later comes to Madison's home, blackmailing her and Gary to pay him Madison's inherited money from Ray's life insurance policy lest he send them both to jail for Ray's murder. Madison drugs Jasper's drink, causing him to pass out, and Gary ties a plastic bag over his head and plans to stage his death as a suicide. The story jumps forward several years later, depicting Gary and Madison now happily married with two children.

Production
Before the 2022 Cannes Film Market, Hit Man was announced as a new film for sale internationally. The screenplay, based on the article "Hit Man" by Skip Hollandsworth published in Texas Monthly in 2001, was written by Richard Linklater and Glen Powell, who also directed and starred, respectively. The article told the true story of Gary Johnson, a college professor who worked for the Houston police in the late 1980s and 1990s, pretending to be a contract killer. Much of the rest of the plot is fiction; he did not have a relationship with the target of a sting, and he never killed anyone. He died in 2022, and the film includes a dedication before the end credits: "Dedicated to Gary Johnson, 1947 – 2022".

AGC Studios reported strong sales for international distribution at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival. Powell was joined by Austin Amelio, Retta, and Molly Bernard in October 2022. Filming began in New Orleans in October 2022, and production was completed that November.

Release
Hit Man had its world premiere at the 80th Venice International Film Festival on September 5, 2023. It was followed afterward by its North American premiere at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) on September 11. It also screened at the 2023 BFI London Film Festival on October 6, 2023.

Netflix acquired distribution rights to the film for $20 million at TIFF, making it the largest film deal of the festival and of 2023, with plans for a theatrical release as well. It was released in select theaters in the United States on May 24, 2024, before streaming on Netflix starting on June 7, 2024.

Reception
The film received critical acclaim.

Writing for The Washington Post, Ty Burr awarded the film 4 out of 4 stars, calling it "a blast of pure pleasure and one of the year’s best films." In another positive review, Alissa Wilkinson of The New York Times described Hit Man as "romantic, sexy, hilarious, satisfying and a genuine star-clinching turn for Glen Powell." Wilkinson, along with several other reviewers, remarked on the philosophical questions posed by the film. Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian wrote that the multiple identities assumed by Gary allow both the character and the viewer to consider "the question of whether there is in fact a true 'self', an irreducible core of authentic identity that remains behind when all imitations or influences are removed". Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com also described the movie as a "philosophical study of the human capacity to change". However, Zachary Barnes of The Wall Street Journal noted a lack of subtlety, calling Gary's lectures in philosophy class "overly obvious as expressions of the movie’s themes". Chris Evangelista of Slashfilm wrote a mixed review in which he described the film as "forgettable, and often uninspired", though he praised the performance of the actors.