

He's not a killer, but he can pretend.
A mild-mannered professor moonlighting as a fake hit man in police stings ignites a chain reaction of trouble when he falls for a potential client.
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Character
Contemporary, comic, effortless and spare.
- contemporarynostalgic
- gravecomic
- effortlessdemanding
- sparerichly built
- cooloverwhelming
Who loves it, who doesn't
1 profiled raters. .
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“Is Glen Powell the best thing in Hit Man?”
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“Is this Richard Linklater's best work?”
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“Is it funnier than it is smart?”
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A yes-or-no question, answered from what people wrote here, on TMDB and on Wikipedia. Never made up.
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Reviews on TMDB
Written by TMDB members; each links to the original. Not part of Tastebuds's numbers.
- RalphRahalon TMDB · Jan 20257/10
Hit Man by Richard Linklater is a solid watch, blending a deliberate pace with engaging character work. The first act feels like it lingers a little too long, but by the time the final act rolls around, you realize it was all intentional. That slower setup creates a nice payoff later, making the transitions between acts smooth and well-timed. It’s clear Linklater knew exactly how much breathing room to give the story, even if it left me wishing for a bit more energy upfront. Glen Powell and Adria Arjona carry the film with their performances, delivering exactly what their roles demand without overdoing it. Their character arcs extend nicely into the second act, which keeps things interesting and makes you care about what happens next. The plot itself isn’t groundbreaking and leans on some predictability, but it seems like Linklater aimed to keep things simple, possibly to avoid overwhelming the audience. Still, a touch more depth in the story wouldn’t have hurt. Visually and musically, the film doesn’t go above and beyond, but it also doesn’t drop the ball. The cinematography and score do their job without overshadowing the narrative. Overall, Hit Man may not wow you on every front
Read the whole review on TMDB - Louisa Moore - Screen Zealotson TMDB · Jul 20243/10
Richard Linklater‘s “Hit Man” is a film with a serious identity crisis. This genre blending disaster starts out as a wannabe goofy comedy, then veers off the rails into dark noir, finally settling on a bizarrely erotic femme-fatale rom-com. This movie is absolutely terrible, and its only saving grace is its lead’s bonafide Hollywood star power. Straight-laced professor Gary Johnson (Glen Powell) has an odd hobby: he moonlights with the New Orleans Police Department as a fake hit man. With a penchant for inhabiting different personalities and donning outrageous costumes, Gary has a knack for telling potential clients (and marks) just the right things to get them arrested. Things get complicated when he falls for Madison (Adria Arjona), a potential criminal who meets with Gary to discuss hiring him to murder her awful husband. The two start a romantic relationship in a sea of deception and moral ambiguity, which changes Gary’s life forever. It’s a great premise for a film, but Linklater just can’t make it work. While he admittedly isn’t one of my favorite directors, he completely misses the mark here. The narrative is disjointed and the tonal inconsistencies are too jarring, and no a
Read the whole review on TMDB - CinemaSerfon TMDB · May 20247/10
At this rate, Glen Powell is going to be able to pay Tom Cruise back for his flying lessons pretty swiftly! Here, he's a rather geeky teacher (Gary) who teaches philosophy at a college whilst occasionally helping out the cops with some criminal profiling. When one of their investigators "Jasper" (Austin Amelio) goes a bit too far and gets suspended, Gary gets drafted in last minute and proves quite effective at getting folks who want to bump of their nearest and dearest for $5,000 to admit their cunning plans to a well wired-up con. The more of these cases he does, the better he gets; the more fun he has dressing up and adept he becomes at assuming a range of identities. It's "Maddy" (Adria Arjona) who sets the cat amongst the pigeons when she asks him to get shot of her thuggish husband "Ray" (Evan Holtzman). He takes a shine to her and talks her out of her criminal ploy. Quickly the two are seeing each other - which is manna from heaven for the deposed "Jasper". When her husband is found dead, he thinks he knows exactly who did what and how best to exact his revenge... It's quite an entertaining romantic thriller this, providing Powell with an opportunity to charm his way through
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Cast
- Glen PowellGary Johnson
- Adria ArjonaMadison Figueroa Masters
- Austin AmelioJasper
- RettaClaudette
- Sanjay RaoPhil
- Molly BernardAlicia
- Evan HoltzmanRay
- Gralen Bryant BanksSargeant Hank
- Mike MarkoffCraig
- Bryant CarrollWalt
Crew
- Richard LinklaterDirector
- Richard LinklaterScreenplay
- Glen PowellScreenplay
- Shane F. KellyDirector of Photography
- Graham ReynoldsOriginal Music Composer
- Sandra AdairEditor
- Glen PowellProducer
- Richard LinklaterProducer
- Michael CostiganProducer
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