‘Hit Man’ Review: Richard Linklater’s Fun True-Life Lark Stars Glen Powell as a Dweeb Who Goes Undercover as a Contract Killer
variety.comOwen Gleiberman Chief Film Critic Is it something in the air? At this year’s Venice Film Festival, the unofficial theme appears to be hit men.
David Fincher’s “The Killer” is all about an icy methodical professional executioner. Woody Allen’s “Coup de Chance” turns on an act of murder-for-hire.
And now, just in time to steal the buzz from both of those movies, we have Richard Linklater’s “Hit Man,” a true-life screwball underworld romantic philosophical thriller comedy noir about the world’s unlikeliest undercover agent.
He’s a one-of-a-kind movie hero, though in more ways than not he’s just like us. The movie, which is based on a 2001 Texas Monthly article (it’s one of those “inspired by a true story” things, with plenty of fictional embellishment), tells the tale of Gary Johnson, a part-time college teacher who works for the New Orleans Police Department as a tech consultant, helping to make recordings of sting operations.
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