Title: Hit Man
MPA Rating: R
Director: Richard Linklater
Starring: Glen Powell, Adria Arjona, Retta
Runtime: 1 hr 55 mins

What It Is: Mild-mannered professor Gary Johnson (Powell) sometimes helps out the police. But when he’s called in to play a different role—that of a hitman for hire—he excels, leading to an opportunity to continue doing it. However, when he finds himself drawn to his client Madison (Arjona), who wants to kill her abusive husband, Gary convinces her she shouldn’t go through with it. Now, he’s caught in dangerous territory, with no way to escape from the situation.

What We Think: I will always be a fan of Richard Linklater. This film didn’t change my mind that he’s an extremely talented person behind the lens. He gets the goods out of Powell, who he previously worked with on Everybody Wants Some!! one of Linklater’s more underrated pieces. Powell carries his weight here. He’s absolutely excellent as the enigmatic Johnson (who’s stories were the basis for this film) without his charm this whole thing doesn’t work. I will mention that Linklater does some really nice narrative gymnastics to coalesce this thing together! Adria Arjona shows a bit of range here and this might be the first time I’ve genuinely been impressed with her work as an actress. It’s odd because despite her aesthetic superiority to many other women that exist on the planet Earth she’d never before come out and given a performance with the range and craft shown here. I’m going to give her all the credit but one has to wonder if Linklater is helping that along.

Our Grade: A-, An absolute gem of a film. This is the kind of crime comedy that does whatever it wants and has the right person behind the lens. A visionary unafraid of trying stuff and hoping it works. That’s Linklater’s greatest attribute. It’s in spades here. Check this one out. It’s a rare GREAT film from Netflix. Pre holiday season. Before all their awards fodder hits the streaming service.