Hit Man (2024) Review: Glen Powell Plays Pretend

Is Hit Man worth watching?

Mostly yes. Hit Man is a playful, witty and genuinely sexy crime comedy, powered by Glen Powell’s most versatile performance and a sharp premise about how much of identity is performance. Richard Linklater brings his characteristic curiosity to a genre film, and the chemistry between Powell and Adria Arjona gives it real heat. The reservations are a mechanical middle stretch and a final act whose tonal and moral turns will divide audiences.

What is Hit Man about?

Gary Johnson (Glen Powell) is a mild-mannered college professor in New Orleans who teaches psychology and philosophy, lives quietly with his cats and helps the local police with technical work on the side. When the undercover officer who usually poses as a contract killer in sting operations is suspended, Gary is pushed into taking his place.

To everyone’s surprise, he is brilliant at it. Gary invents a series of hired-killer personas, each tailored to the client he is meeting, and helps the police secure one arrest after another. Then he meets Madison (Adria Arjona), a woman who wants to escape an abusive marriage, and instead of sticking to the script, his most confident persona, the smooth and dangerous “Ron”, talks her out of it. What follows is a romance built on a lie that neither of them can easily walk away from.

Hit Man is an American production in English, directed by Linklater from a screenplay he co-wrote with Powell, loosely inspired by a magazine article about a real-life fake hit man. It runs 116 minutes.

Glen Powell’s many faces

The film is a showcase for Powell, and he makes the most of it. As Gary, he is endearingly nerdy, a man who seems to shrink inside his own clothes. As his various hit-man personas, he transforms with wigs, accents and attitudes, and the sequences in which he meets clients are the film’s comic highlights. Most impressive is how he makes Ron, the idealised version of Gary, feel both seductive and slightly unreal.

Arjona is a perfect match. Madison is smart, funny and harder to read than she first appears, and the scenes between her and Powell crackle with the kind of flirtatious chemistry that mainstream films rarely find these days. Austin Amelio adds a sour comic energy as the suspended officer eager to get his old job back.

Linklater’s playful philosophy

Beneath the romance, Linklater is asking a genuine question: can people become someone else by acting as if they already are? Gary’s lectures on the self and identity comment on his own transformation, and the film uses its premise to explore how performance shapes personality. It is a light touch, but it gives Hit Man more intellectual curiosity than the average streaming comedy.

The direction is breezy and assured, using the New Orleans setting and a jazzy, relaxed rhythm to give the film the feel of a classic screwball comedy with a modern edge.

Where the twists wobble

The film’s structure is less consistent than its performances. The montage of sting operations is funny but repetitive, and the story takes a while to shift gears once the romance begins. The final act moves in darker, more outlandish directions, and its moral choices, played for comic effect, have left some viewers uneasy about what the film endorses. Whether you find the ending daring or glib will likely shape your overall verdict.

Who should watch Hit Man?

It is a strong choice for a date night or a fun evening with friends, especially for viewers who enjoy romantic comedies with an edge and fans of Glen Powell. The film includes sex scenes, strong language and some violence, so it suits adult audiences rather than families. At just under two hours, it moves easily.

If it works for you:

• Anora, another 2024 American romance that swings between comedy and crime with a star-making lead performance.
• Knives Out, for a similarly playful, twisty genre film that takes pleasure in its own cleverness.

More titles in the same spirit can be found in our romance section.

The verdict

Hit Man is a smart, sexy and very entertaining crime comedy that proves Glen Powell is a star and Richard Linklater can make a genre film his own. Its middle section drags and its ending is morally slippery, but the chemistry and ideas make it well worth a watch.

Rating: 3.5/5