Hit Man

Star Glen Powell and director Richard Linklater teamed up to write and produce this darkly comedic romantic thriller based on a true story that just barely qualifies as any of those descriptors. Powell is a relaxed fit in a role that would have felt tailor-made for the young George Clooney or John Hamm. He stars as Gary Johnson, a New Orleans college professor who stumbles into a part-time gig with the local police, posing as a hitman in sting operations set up to catch potential murderers. It turns out that Gary is a natural at this risky job and enjoys the work until he becomes romantically involved with one of his potential "clients" after steering her away from hiring him to kill her abusive husband.

Linklater's bland, lethargic direction makes the bouncy, lightweight script feel much less fun than it should. I found myself two steps ahead of almost every narrative beat and plot turn. A picture of this kind, in which the main character narrates the story, telling us what's happening and how he feels about it, shouldn't be as shaggy and plodding as this one is. The picture isn't exactly a misfire; it's just not what it could have been if it had leaned tonally more in the direction of either Out of Sight or Fletch. Instead, it lands somewhere in the middle—fun but not really funny, engaging but certainly not thrilling, sexy but not at all romantic. As Maddy Masters, the woman who Gary falls for, Adria Arjona gives a solid performance. She and Powell have nice chemistry, and they look like they're having fun making this silly movie. Some of that fun rubs off on the viewer. Powell plays a man of many disguises but he wears the same self-satisfied smirk he boasted on Anyone But You and Top Gun: Maverick. It's a winning look, but a few more emotional colors during key scenes might have helped me invest a bit more in the far-fetched steaks of the story.