Film: “Hit Man” directed by Richard Linklater

It’s only May but we already have the hit of the summer: “Hit Man,” a new film directed by Richard Linklater (“Dazed and Confused” and “Boyhood”). It stars two actors you may have never heard much about. But I suspect that will change.

Glenn Powell plays Gary Johnson, a mind-mannered, bird-watching, part-time philosophy professor at the “University of New Orleans” with a side hustle: he’s tech support for a unit of the city PD. Their MO: have an agent wear a wire and pose as a hit man, in order to catch ordinary people planning a murder.

When Dexter (Austin Amelio), the regular “hit man,” is suspended for misbehavior, Gary is asked to take his place at the last minute. Gobsmacked, Gary shakes off his jitters and confidently strides into a dive bar to meet a highly ornery client (Mike Markoff). Gary drops a few F-bombs, talks tough to the guy, gets him to admit his murderous intentions and hand over the fee. Boom! The cops hear everything and nail him faster than you can say “les bons temps rouler.”

“Ron” (that is his new alias) succeeds wildly as the substitute hit man. This all takes a turn when he meets Madison (Adria Arjona), a very attractive young wife being tormented by Raymond (Evan Holtzman), her unstable husband. Gary is smitten with her and slyly convinces her to leave without incriminating herself. He does however give her his phone number, which leads to a wild turn of events. Woo-hoo!

Powell is a revelation to me. Although I have only seen him in “Top Gun: Maverick” (he played Hangman), this role as Gary-turned-Ron allows him to show off his comic charm, range of acting ability, and intelligence—you can tell he’s poured his heart and soul into the script which he co-wrote with Linklater. Arjona is his equal as Madison: her performance in the climax scene is so good, it drew spontaneous applause from the audience in New York’s Paris Theater. Rounding out the terrific cast are supporting actors Sanjay Rao and Retta as the cops who cover “Ron” from inside a surveillance truck. “Another Daniel Day!” says Retta, praising Gary for his acting ability.

While the cutaways to Gary teaching his philosophy class at first seemed gratuitous, upon further reflection I realize they are important to the movie. At one point, he asks his college students, “How many of you really know yourselves? What if your self is a construction, an illusion … a role you’ve been playing since the day you were born?” This advice is something Gary takes to heart.

Fun fact: the closing credits reveal that “Hit Man” is based on a true story published in Texas Monthly Article back in 2001, and Gary Johnson was indeed a real person who assisted in over 70 arrests as an undercover agent. It’s also revealed that this screwball comedy-romcom-adventure thriller futzes with the truth a bit, but no lie—“HM” is the funniest, smartest movie you’ll see all summer. And it’s not even June 20 yet.

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