Gary, a divorced philosophy professor, leads a cushy existence with his cats. This life, he believes, suits him. To increase his income, he also assists the local police as a wiretap technician. However, after the suspension of a police officer, Gary finds himself having to replace him at short notice, which involves playing a hitman. The goal ? Arrest the person with murderous intentions. Gifted, Gary continues operations, discovering in the process that these lives he invents to fool his “clients” really appeal to him. But here comes Madison, who wants to get rid of her violent husband. Thunderbolt. What follows are dissimulations, twists and turns and laughter galore in the comedy Hitmanby Richard Linklater.
Co-written by filmmaker and star Glen Powell, Hitman is very freely inspired by an article true crime signed Skip Hollandsworth. A previous investigation by this journalist, devoted to a gay and murderous undertaker, had inspired Richard Linklater to write the delectable black comedy Bernie.
Hitman is in a similar register, but is less concerned with verisimilitude and conciseness – the epilogue is too much after a perfect ending, among other examples. As it stands, however, the plot is both twisty and tasty.
In this we feel the pleasure – contagious – of the director of the trilogy Before (Before Sunrise/Before dawn everything is possible ; Before Sunset/Before nightfall everything is possible ; Before Midnight/Before midnight everything is possible) to follow the protagonist as he sinks deeper and deeper into his mystification.
So Gary is initially delighted to imagine a new identity (look, nationality, etc.) for each assassin he plays. And “play” is the right term: Gary is representing for the benefit of potential criminals, but also for that of the police officers in hiding. Later, he also performs in front of Madison (Adria Arjona, persuasive).
Moreover, Gary is all the more entangled because Madison is in love with “Ron”, the bold and suave assassin character that he created for her.
Casual rigor
To stay with the theme of deceptive appearances, Richard Linklater infuses the film with this impression of casualness, of absolute ease, which characterizes most of his comedies (Dazed and Confused/Head in the clouds ; School of Rock/The school of rock), while maintaining behind the laughing facade the same technical rigor as in his “serious” films (Waking Life ; A Scanner Darkly ; Boyhood/Youth).
In this regard, there is an interesting parallel between the protagonist and the filmmaker, since with his filmography alternating demanding and light films, Linklater is a bit like Gary/Ron.
In any case, this mixture of relaxation and confidence specific to the director finds an echo in the, or rather the compositions of Glen Powell, who, after Top Gun: Maverick And Anyone but You (Anyone but you), demonstrates here, beyond any doubt, his star qualities. Irresistible, charismatic and truly gifted, the actor seduces, both in Ron and in Gary.