A Richard Linklater hit man movie goes like this: A stranger than fiction story about a college professor named Gary (Glen Powell), who also works part-time for his local police department, where he participates in sting operations. He’s suddenly promoted into the contract killer role, meaning, he must go undercover (with a wire and everything) posing as a hit man, meeting with clients/suspects who wish to pay for his services. His role is to get them to incriminate themselves. Gary is nervous at first, but soon discovers that he’s a natural at this fake hit man stuff. One of the aliases he goes by is named Ron. Gary himself is nerdy and forgettable, but Ron is confident and charismatic. One day (as tends to occur in romantic comedies) Gary/Ron meets an attractive woman named Madison (Adria Arjona) who he falls for. The problem is, Madison wants her husband killed.
Directed by Richard Linklater, written by Linklater and Glen Powell, and based on the Texas Monthly article by Skip Hollandsworth loosely inspired by the life of Gary Johnson, much care is taken when balancing the romantic comedy aspects of this film, with some film noir, dark humor and a touch of philosophy. Linklater keeps things interesting.
Though the movie is about murderers and deals with some morbid and unsavory situations for a typical romantic comedy, it’s all kept fairly light. I’d describe the overall tone of this as playful, with a second half evolving into something with higher stakes. Culminating in a third act where Linklater brings everything together in one of the single most masterfully constructed scenes of 2024. Like I said, Linklater keeps things interesting.
Powell and Arjona’s chemistry make their banter really enjoyable to watch and is the basis of a majority of the humorous moments. But this is clearly Powell’s movie, serving as both the narrator and a protagonist who goes through over half a dozen costume and character changes throughout the movie. And for this, he must be commended as he does a solid job in a role that may have traditionally been given to a more comedic performer.
Final Thought: Linklater is obviously a brilliant filmmaker who can take any story and make it something that will engage the widest swath of audiences. It’s the Linklater touches which separate this movie from your basic romantic comedy, and more importantly creates a film experience that is undeniably fun and an overall enjoyable and downright positive viewing experience.
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